The Seven Sleuths' Club

  CHAPTER XI. A REBELLIOUS BOY

  The next morning when Colonel Wainright entered the cheery, sun-floodedbreakfast-room, he saw a slender girl standing by the window looking outat the glistening white orchard. She turned with a truly radiant face.

  "Oh, Colonel," she exclaimed, "isn't this the most wonderful, sparklingday? I will have to confess that I have never seen anything so beautifulin the city, for there, even in the parks, the snow becomes sooty almostas soon as it has fallen."

  The elderly gentleman was indeed pleased and he said heartily: "Well,little lady, I am glad that there is at least one thing that you like inour country village. Aha! Here is Alfred. Good morning, lad, I judge byyour ruddy face that you have already been out-of-doors."

  "Indeed I have," the boy replied as they took their places at the table."I saw a chap shoveling and so I went out to help him. Who is he,Colonel? Sort of a surly boy, I thought. He only grunted when I asked ifhe didn't think the snow was great."

  "He is Danny O'Neil," the old gentleman replied. "His father is a tenanton one of my farms and he has had a great deal of trouble with the boy,he tells me. Danny is seventeen and has sort of taken the bit in hismouth. He doesn't want to go to school nor help his father on the farm.Mr. O'Neil came to me yesterday and asked my advice about sending Dannyto a reform school. I advised him not to do so unless he feared the boymight do something really criminal. Then I suggested that he send the ladover here to take the place of my man Patrick, who has gone to Ireland tovisit his old parents. I thought, perhaps, if Danny were earning goodwages, that might straighten him out. I wish you would talk with him,Alfred. I'm sure it would do him good."

  "I will, sir," the boy replied. "There must be some reason that doesn'tshow on the surface for Danny O'Neil's rebelliousness. Perhaps his fatherdoesn't understand him."

  Mrs Gray smiled over the silver coffee urn at the boy and noddedencouragement. "That often leads to a lot of trouble and unhappiness, asI have reason to know," she replied.

  An hour later, true to his promise, Alfred tried to make friends withDanny O'Neil. Having procured another wooden shovel from the tool shed,he was tossing snow from the front walk which had not been entirelycleaned off since the blizzard. He did not wish his efforts to becomeacquainted with Danny to seem too pointed, and so he had taken this wayto make them appear natural, but the other boy was taciturn, giving noinformation about himself or his plans, answering all direct questionswith monosyllables. Discouraged, Alfred was about to give up when heheard the jolly jingling of sleigh bells, and to his surprise saw atwo-seated cutter, drawn by a familiar big dapple mare and driven by Bob.Rose sat at his side, while Doris and Jack were on the back seat.

  They sang out merry greetings as they approached and came to a halt nearwhere the two boys were working. Jack leaped out and, after a wave of hishand toward the Morrison boy, he turned to the other with, "Hello, oldDan, how are you? I haven't laid eyes on you in twenty moons. Why don'tyou ever come around?" adding by way of explanation to Alfred: "DannyO'Neil and I were champion snowballers when we were kids. I always chosehim to be on my side when I was captain of the Brick School gang." Thento the still sullen-looking boy, who kept on shoveling: "I haven't seen athing of you since you stopped going to school. You made a mistake todrop out, Dan." Fearing that he was embarrassing the still silent boy,Jack turned to explain their early visit. "We four are a committee onarrangement. Stopped by to tell you and your sister to be ready alongabout two. We'll call for you."

  Doris, seeing Geraldine in the doorway, skipped up the front steps for afew words, and on her return, seeing that Danny was alone, she stoppedand spoke to him in a low voice. "Danny O'Neil," she said. "I've oftenwished I could see you to tell you how my heart aches for you since yourmother died. Every week, when I drove out to your little farm to getfresh eggs for my mother, Mrs. O'Neil was so cheerful and brave, althoughwe know now that she must have been suffering for a long time. She wasalways telling me that her one desire was to save enough money to sendyou up to the Dorchester Art School. She showed me things you drew,Danny. I'm sure you have talent. I hope you'll carry out her wishes.Won't you try, Danny, for her sake?"

  The boy for a moment seemed to find it hard to speak, then he said in atone gruff with emotion: "If I can get hold of any money, I will. It'sall that's left, now Ma's gone."

  "But, Dan, if you're working for the Colonel, you can save that money,can't you?"

  "Not much I can't! The old man gets it paid to him. That's how much_I'll_ get it." His voice expressed bitterness and hatred.

  Rose was calling and so, with a pitying expression in her eyes, Dorissaid, "Good-bye, Danny," and skipped away. After they were gone, Alfredtried once more to be friendly, but found the surly lad even lessinclined to talk than before, and so he went indoors to prepare for theafternoon frolic.