“That is a crazy notion of his, wanting to go in to town just because
he can’t wait till Syd comes out,” remarked Roy when he heard of it. At
the same time he felt a sensation of relief to think that his impulsive
brother was out of Marley and away from the temptation to disquiet the
family by telling his fellow townsmen what he meant to do with their
money when they came into it.
Rex meanwhile was enjoying himself hugely. He saw nobody he knew at
this unusual hour of going to town, but he lay back in his seat while
the breeze, created by the swift motion of the cars, rushed
refreshingly past him, and built air castles of the most luxurious
description.
“It must be so,” he told himself, whenever the doubts suggested by Jess
arose in his mind to trouble him. “Dr. Martin congratulated Roy.
Everybody has known that Mr. Tyler had lots of money somewhere.”
When the train reached Philadelphia, Rex hurried off to the law office
where Syd had his desk. It was some distance from the station, but
having spent all his money for his excursion ticket, he had none left
for car fare.
“This will be the last time I’ll be so short,” he mused, a smile which
he could not repress playing about the corners of his mouth.
Buoyed up by this reflection he did not so much mind the distance, nor
the heat, which he found much more oppressive here in the city than it
was in Marley. He reached Syd’s place at last only to find that his
brother was out and that the boy was not just sure when he would be
back.
“But he’ll be here before he goes to the train, won’t he?” asked Rex.
“Oh yes, sure,” was the reply. “His satchel is here with the books he
always takes.”
“I’ll come back again then.” Rex went out, thinking that now there was
no danger of his ever having to step into the shoes of this office boy.
Syd had remarked once or twice that he thought he could get him a
position in a law office when he was through school.
Rex wandered along the street aimlessly for a while. If it hadn’t been
midsummer he might have gone over to Spruce and Walnut and called on
some of his friends, but they were either at their summer homes in
Marley or off traveling.
He was therefore reduced to walking to kill time, choosing the shady
side and watching for any incident of city life that might divert his
mind. He came to a bicycle emporium presently and stood for some time
in front of it, trying to decide which wheel he should select when he
came to purchase as he hoped to do very shortly now.
“That’s the dandy kind,” remarked a voice over his shoulder. “The
Wizard motor. You can ride over all sorts of roads with it.”
Rex turned and saw a fellow about a year older than himself. He had a
red face and wore an outing shirt that was not as fresh as it might
have been.
Rex, who was rather fastidious as to his friends, simply said “Yes,”
and moved on.
The fellow noticed the look which accompanied the word.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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