“You see, my boy, you’re growing older every day now, and I want you to learn this business through and through, so as to be ready to take a man’s place when the time comes.” And, in accordance with the Chiefs orders, which he was only too glad to obey, Bruce established himself in the dormitory above the truck quarters, and as he placed his head on the pillow that night, and saw that his turnout was lying on the floor beside him, he realized that, although his name was not on the pay-roll of the department, he was really a fireman at last, and would be expected to respond to an alarm as readily as any of the men in the company. The next morning as soon he had finished feeding the horses, and attended to the other small duties required of him, he took his particular friend, Charley Weyman, aside and told him of his experiences in the little graveyard at Rocky Point. He told him how Skinny had been sent there by the man whom the newsboy called “Scar-faced Charley,” and who was, he was positive, none other than the mysterious stranger that Charley Weyman himself had first told him about. At the mention of this man, Weyman’s face assumed an expression of intense interest, which deepened as Bruce continued with his account of how Skinny had been employed to visit the grave in the little burying ground and ascertain if possible the whereabouts of any living member of the Decker family. “And so this ugly-faced chap is taking all this trouble to find out whether you were ever burned, and if so, whether you are alive or dead?” exclaimed the fireman. “Well, if it’s worth anything to him to find out about you, my opinion is that it’s worth just as much to you to find out why he is so much interested. He was just as much concerned about your father that’s dead and gone, and he don’t seem inclined to lose sight of the family. If I were you, I’d lose no time in finding out what it all means. But let me tell you one thing, that fellow never brought good luck to anybody. Your father was never the same man after he had a visit from him, and if you get him coming around here after you, you may have cause to be sorry for it.” “You know he’s living in the same house where I went to call on Mr. Dexter,” said Bruce, “and I’ve been thinking of going up there to pay him a visit and put it to him fair and square, ‘what do you want of me, and why are you so interested in the Decker family?’”