Although the introduction compelled Stephen to give the waiting employee a nod of greeting, he did not meet his eye or evince any sign of recognition, and he sensed that the light that had flashed into the man's face at sight of him died out as quickly as it had come. The boy had an uncomfortable realization as he climbed to the seat of the truck and took his place beside its driver that O'Malley must be rating him as a snob. No one but a cad would accept a stranger's kindness and then cut him dead the next time he encountered him. It was better to endure this misjudgment, however, than to acknowledge a previous acquaintance with the mechanic and thereby arouse his father's suspicion and curiosity. Hence, without further parley, he settled himself and in silence the truck started off. For some minutes he waited, expecting that when they were well out of earshot of the family the man at the wheel would turn and with a laugh make some reference to the adventure of the past week. It certainly must have amused him to find the great red car again stalled in the same spot, and what would be more natural than that he should comment on the coincidence and perhaps make a joke of the circumstance? But to the boy's chagrin the teamster did no such thing. Instead he kept his eyes fixed on the road and gave no evidence that he had ever before seen the lad at his elbow. Stephen was aghast. It was not possible the workman had forgotten the happening. He began to feel very uncomfortable. As the landscape slipped past and the car sped on, the distance to Torrington lessened. Still there seemed to be no prospect of the stranger at the wheel breaking his silence. If it had merely been a silence perhaps Steve would not have minded so much; but there was an implied rebuke in the stillness that nettled and stung and left him with a consciousness of being ignored by a superior being. "I say!" he burst out, when he could endure the ignominy of his position no longer, "don't you remember me, Mr. O'Malley?" The man who guided the car did not turn his head but he nodded. "I remember you all right," replied he politely. "I just thought you did not remember me." "Oh, I remembered you right away," declared Steve eagerly. "Did you?" There was a subtle irony in the tone that the lad was not clever enough to detect. "Of course." "Is that so!" came dryly from O'Malley. "Yes, indeed! I remembered you right away," Steve stumbled on. "You are the man who gave me the gasoline when I was stuck here Wednesday." "I am." "I knew you the first minute I saw you," repeated Stephen. "I did not notice any sign that you did," was the terse response. "Oh--well--you see, I couldn't very well speak back there," explained Steve with confusion. "They would all have wanted to know where I--I mean I would have to--it would just have made a lot of talk," concluded he lamely. For the first time the elder man, moving his eyes from the ribbon of gleaming highway, confronted him.