"It takes everywhere. I have two of the smartest boy riders in the country." "Where did you pick them up?" asked Hugo, with assumed carelessness. "The younger one, Charlie Davis, comes from Canada." "My attention was particularly attracted to the other." "Robert Rudd?" "Yes, if that is his name. How long has he been with you?" "Two seasons. Before that he was with another smaller circus." "How long has he been riding?" "Ever since he was eight or nine years old. That boy is perfectly fearless with horses. Not many grown men can ride as well. And that isn't all! I could easily make a lion tamer of him if he were willing. He has a wonderful power over the wild beasts. I believe he would go into their cages and they wouldn't offer to harm him." "My cousin Julian had a passion for horses," thought Hugo. "If this boy were his son he would come honestly by his taste." "You don't know how he came to adopt such a life, do you?" he asked. "No; I believe the boy was alone in the world. I have heard him say he was under the care of a man who called himself his uncle, but for whom he does not seem to entertain any affection. Whether this man deserted him, or he ran away from the man, I don't know. At any rate he fell in with some men in our business, and a well-known rider, seeing that the boy was quick and daring, offered to instruct him in his special line. The boy accepted, and that is the way he drifted into the show business." "You say he has no relatives?" "None that he knows of." "Has he any education?" "He can read and write, and I believe he knows something of arithmetic. He is smart enough, if he ever got an opportunity, to learn. I am selfish, however, and should not like to lose him, though I might consent if he could better himself. You see, sir, although I am in the show business myself, I don't consider it a very desirable career for a boy to follow. I've got a boy of my own, but I have placed him at boarding-school, and he shall never, with my permission, join a circus. You'll think it strange, Mr. Richmond, but so far as I know, Henry has never yet witnessed a circus performance." "I quite agree with you, Mr. Coleman," said Hugo. "Then I offer you another cigar." "Thanks, but I never smoke but one just before going to bed. If you are here to-morrow evening I shall be glad to offer you a ticket to the show." "Thank you, but I must get away to-morrow with my uncle." As Hugo went up-stairs to his room he said to himself, "It is high time we left the place, for the manager's story leads me to think this boy may be my cousin's son after all. My uncle must never know or suspect it, or my hopes of an inheritance are blasted." The next morning when Hugo entered his uncle's apartment, according to custom, the old man asked eagerly, "Did you learn anything about the boy, Hugo?"