"Yes." "Will you tell him you met me, and ask him if he will send money to bring me on to where he lives? Giles was always good-hearted, and I am sure he will do it." "It won't be necessary to wait. I will buy you another ticket, and take you on with me." John Plympton's face lighted up with joy. "How kind you are," he said, grasping Rupert's hand. "I hope when you are old you will find some one who will be as kind to you. You are not related to me in any way, you only saw me within the hour, yet you are going to do me a great kindness. May heaven bless you." "Thank you, but don't give me too much credit. I am sure Mr. Packard will approve what I am doing, and will consider it a favor done to himself." "I hope so, but my niece's treatment has made me uncertain how far the ties of relationship will be regarded. Yet I will accept your offer thankfully." Rupert lost no time in purchasing another ticket, and secured Pullman accommodations for himself and his new acquaintance. "You used to live in Buffalo," he said. "Yes, I worked in one place there for fifteen years." "Did you ever hear of the firm of Rollins & Lorimer?" "Certainly. They were dry-goods merchants." "I am Rupert Rollins, son of the senior partner." "Is it possible? I knew your father well. He was a fine man." "I am glad to hear you say so." "But I didn't like Mr. Lorimer as well." "I have little reason to like him, for he ruined my poor father, and indirectly caused his death." "I am not surprised to hear it. I never had any dealings with Mr. Lorimer, but I knew his reputation. Is your mother living?" "Yes, thank God, she is living, and my sister Grace as well." "Did your father lose all his property?" "All." "How, then, is your mother getting along?" Rupert explained. "And yourself? Are you in any employment?" "I have been a bell-boy in a New York hotel for the last year and a half." "You could hardly be very well paid." "Yes, I received larger pay than I would have received in a mercantile house. But I have finally given up the business." "What do you propose to do?" "I shall ask the advice of your nephew. He is a very good friend of mine--the best I have outside my own family with one exception--and I shall be guided by what he says." "I wish I had been able to go to him instead of to my niece and her husband." "I don't see how they could have treated you so meanly." "Mary would have treated me better, but she is under the thumb of her husband, and he is as mean a man as I ever encountered." "Excepting Mr. Lorimer." "There isn't much choice between them." "Did he give you a note for the three thousand dollars you lent him?" "Yes, I have his note--but what is it worth?" "Keep it and show it to Mr. Packard. He may be able to advise you how to secure it." "Do you know if Giles has been successful? Has he bettered himself in Colorado?"