However, mother, watch or no watch, I've got a good appetite.
I shall be ready when supper is."
Luke sat down to the table ten minutes afterward and proved his words good, much to his mother's satisfaction.
While he is eating we will say a word about the cottage. It was small, containing only four rooms, furnished in the plainest fashion. The rooms, however, were exceedingly neat, and presented an appearance of comfort. Yet the united income of Mrs. Larkin and Luke was very small. Luke received a dollar a week for taking care of the schoolhouse, but this income only lasted forty weeks in the year. Then he did odd jobs for the neighbors, and picked up perhaps as much more. Mrs. Larkin had some skill as a dressmaker, but Groveton was a small village, and there was another in the same line, so that her income from this source probably did not average more than three dollars a week. This was absolutely all that they had to live on, though there was no rent to pay; and the reader will not be surprised to learn that Luke had no money to spend for watches.
"Are you tired, Luke?" asked his mother, after supper.
"No, mother. Can I do anything for you?"
"I have finished a dress for Miss Almira Clark. I suppose she will want to wear it to church to-morrow. But she lives so far away, I don't like to ask you to carry it to her."
"Oh, I don't mind. It won't do me any harm."
"You will get tired."
"If I do, I shall sleep the better for it."
"You are a good son, Luke."
"I ought to be. Haven't I got a good mother?"
So it was arranged. About seven o'clock, after his chores were done—for there was some wood to saw and split—Luke set out, with the bundle under his arm, for the house of Miss Clark, a mile and a half away.
It was a commonplace errand, that on which Luke had started, but it was destined to be a very important day in his life. It was to be a turning-point, and to mark the beginning of a new chapter of experiences. Was it to be for good or ill? That we are not prepared to reveal. It will be necessary for the reader to follow his career, step by step, and decide for himself.
Of course, Luke had no thought of this when he set out. To him it had been a marked day on account of the skating match, but this had turned out a disappointment. He accomplished his errand, which occupied a considerable time, and then set out on his return. It was half-past eight, but the moon had risen and diffused a mild radiance over the landscape. Luke thought he would shorten his homeward way by taking a path through the woods. It was not over a quarter of a mile, but would shorten the distance by as much more. The trees were not close together, so that it was light enough to see. Luke had nearly reached the edge of the wood, when he overtook a tall man, a stranger in the neighborhood, who carried in his hand a tin box. Turning, he eyed Luke sharply.
"Boy, what's your name?" he asked.
"Luke Larkin," our hero answered, in surprise.
"Where do you live?"
"In the village yonder."
"Will you do me a favor?"
"What is it, sir?"
"Take this tin box and carry it to your home. Keep it under lock and key till I call for it."
"Yes, sir, I can do that. But how shall I know you again?"
"Take a good look at me, that you may remember me."
"I think I shall know you again, but hadn't you better give me a name?"
"Well, perhaps so," answered the other, after a moment's thought.
"You may call me Roland Reed. Will you remember?"
"Yes, sir."
"I am obliged to leave this neighborhood at once, and can't conveniently carry the box," explained the stranger. "Here's something for your trouble."
Luke was about to say that he required no money, when it occurred to him that he had no right to refuse, since money was so scarce at home. He took the tin box and thrust the bank-bill into his vest pocket. He wondered how much it was, but it was too dark to distinguish.
"Good night!" said Luke, as the stranger turned away.
"Good night!" answered his new acquaintance, abruptly.
If Luke could have foreseen the immediate consequences of this apparently simple act, and the position in which it would soon place him, he would certainly have refused to take charge of the box. And yet in so doing it might have happened that he had made a mistake. The consequences of even our simple acts are oftentimes far-reaching and beyond the power of human wisdom to foreknow.
Luke thought little of this as, with the box under his arm, he trudged homeward.
CHAPTER V
LUKE RECEIVES AN INVITATION
"What have you there, Luke?" asked Mrs. Larkin, as Luke entered the little sitting-room with the tin box under his arm.
"I met a man on my way home, who asked me to keep it for him."
"Do you know the man?" asked his mother, in surprise.
"No," answered Luke.
"It seems very singular. What did he say?"
"He said that he was obliged to leave the neighborhood at once, and could not conveniently carry the box."
"Do you think it contains anything of value?"
"Yes, mother. It is like the boxes rich men have to hold their stocks and bonds. I was at the bank one day, and saw a gentleman bring in one to deposit in the safe."
"I can't understand that at all, Luke. You say you did not know this man?"
"I never met him before."
"And, of course, he does not know you?"
"No, for he asked my name."
"Yet he put what may be valuable property in your possession."
"I think," said Luke, shrewdly, "he had no one else to trust it to. Besides, a country boy wouldn't be very likely to make use of stocks and bonds."
"No, that is true. I suppose the tin box is locked?"
"Yes, mother. The owner—he says his name is Roland Reed—wishes it put under lock and key."
"I can lock it up in my trunk, Luke."
"I think that will be a good idea."
"I hope he will pay you for your trouble when he takes away the tin box."
"He has already. I forgot to mention it," and Luke drew from his vest pocket, the bank-note he had thrust in as soon as received. "Why, it's a ten-dollar bill!" he exclaimed. "I wonder whether he knew he was giving me as much?"
"I presume so, Luke," said his mother, brightening up. "You are in luck!"
"Take it, mother. You will find a use for it."
"But, Luke, this money is yours."
"No, it is yours, for you are going to take care of the box."
It was, indeed, quite a windfall, and both mother and son retired to rest in a cheerful frame of mind, in spite of Luke's failure in the race.
"I have been thinking, Luke," said his mother, at the breakfast-table, "that I should like to have you buy a Waterbury watch out of this money. It will only cost three dollars and a half, and that is only one-third."
"Thank you, mother, but I can get along without the watch. I cared for it chiefly because it was to be a prize given to the best skater. All the boys know that I would have won but for the accident, and that satisfies me."
"I should like you to have a watch, Luke."
"There is another objection, mother. I don't want any one to know about the box or the money. If it were known that we had so much property in the house, some attempt might be made to rob us."
"That is true, Luke. But I hope it won't be long before you