CHAPTER XXXIV.

LITTLE SNAP FINDS A CLEW.

In his anxiety to get home, Little Snap did not stop to answer the clerk's question, other than to say:

"I will tell you all about it in the morning. I am sorry Mr. Rimmon is not here."

This fact was a great disappointment to him, and he did not know of any one else to whom he cared to divulge what he had learned.

But before he did anything else he must know what had taken place at home, which he reached a minute later.

Sammy had already dismounted from the panting Fairy, and was explaining to his mother what he had done.

"Why, here he comes, mother! He got here almost as quick as I did."

At sight of Dix, Mrs. Lewis ran forward to meet him.

"Oh, my son, where have you been? They said you were dead, and I have suffered untold agony."

"But you see I am safe and sound, mother, so cheer up. I got belated on my downward trip, that is all. Has anything new taken place since I went away?"

"Let Sammy take care of the horses, Dix. Come into the house; I have something I want to say to you."

"Has father been at home to-day?" asked Little Snap, as he followed his mother into the house.

"Yes; he was here nearly all of the forenoon. He took Gyp and went away about half-past twelve. I have never seen him so strange appearing. He walked the floor nearly all of the time, and he kept talking to himself. Oh, Dix, I am worried to death. He had hardly left the house, before this piece of paper was thrown into the window. I did not see who brought it. You can read it yourself."

This was what the postboy read:

"MR. JOHN LEWIS: You are advised to leave Union Six Roads as soon as possible—you and your family. That boy of yours will be dead before you get this. A word to you ought to be sufficient."

Like the message Little Snap had found in Pewee Burrnock's coat pocket, there was neither address nor signature to the note.

He saw, too, that the handwriting and the kind of paper were the same as the other.

"I will keep this, mother," he said, folding the sheet and putting it into his pocket. "Do you know what called Mr. Rimmon out of town to-day? It must have been something of importance, or he would have told me."

"I don't know, my son, though Sammy has heard some startling stories about town in regard to him. Here comes Sammy; he can tell you. I have been too worried to think of anything."

"Mr. Rimmon has failed!" said Sammy, who had heard enough of his brother's question to reply. "They say his accounts at the post office are short, and that he has gone off with all of the money he could get hold of. He has beat Johnson Jewett out of two thousand dollars."

"Hold on, Sam Lewis! That can't be true!"

"It is; everybody says so."

"It seems to me, my son, that we have enough to think of at home without troubling ourselves about Mr. Rimmon, or any one else."

"So we have, mother, but Mr. Rimmon's troubles concern us. At least, I have depended on his help to meet these enemies of ours. I am at a loss to know who could have sent that message, but I am sure no harm will come of it."

"Why should they say you were dead, Dix?"

"It's all a mystery, mother, and I will confess that the worst part of it is, I don't seem near to a solution."

"What shall we do?"

"There is but one thing we can do, mother; and that is to keep our eyes and ears open, and go along about our business."

"I should feel better if your father was in a different state of mind."

"Can you not think of any possible reason for his present condition? He was not always so."

"Indeed he was not. John Lewis was considered one of the likeliest young men in Munroe County when I married him. I wish we had always stayed there. But he thought he could better his fortune by emigrating to Boone Lick."

"How long did you live there?"

"Three years. You were a baby when we came away."

"Didn't father do as well as he had expected?"

"No; and, besides, he got into trouble with a family by the name of Raggles, and——"

"What was the first name of that man, mother?" asked Little Snap, showing excitement.

"I never knew exactly, but I think it was Nick. I know there was a big family."

"Did you ever hear of an Absalom Raggles?"

"I have heard your father speak the name. I think he was a cousin of the others."

"Did father ever have trouble with him?"

"Never, that I know of. Hark! I believe there is some one at the door."

"It is a noise at the barn. I must go out and see if Sammy has cared for the horses properly. It has been a hard day for them. Come, cheer up, mother, and it will come out all right."

"But aren't you going to eat any supper?"

"When I come in, perhaps. To speak the truth, I am not hungry."

Little Snap talked until late in the night with his mother, and when they retired both felt in better spirits.

"At last I have got a clew," he said to himself. "I can't realize it, but it looks as if Ab Raggles had something to do with all this trouble. Just now I am bothered to know what these stories mean about Mr. Rimmon."

Though he did not sleep much, Little Snap was on hand at the post office the following morning, where he found a large crowd of men collected.

He noticed prominent among them Sheriff Brady and Justice Claverton, who nodded their heads and whispered something to each other at sight of him.

"I have heard it threatened that this shall be your last trip," said the post office clerk, as he handed the mail pouch to the postboy.

"What do these stories mean that we hear about Mr. Rimmon?"

"I don't know. Of course, I do not believe them. He was called away very suddenly, and it was something in regard to the post office. I believe there is a government detective somewhere around, looking into the trouble. All the things make the people talk. I wanted to tell you last night that another complaint has been sent in by Claverton and the others."