“Well, he was left just two thousand dollars cash down,” said Bandy-legs, in a thoughtful manner, as though reviewing the singular circumstance, “and if at the end of two years he could show that he had doubled that amount, besides earning his own living, why he was to come into two-thirds of his uncle’s fortune.  Some of our Carson people who know folks over in Sagamore where the uncle lived tell whopping big stories about the size of that fortune.  I heard one man say he reckoned it was as much as two hundred thousand dollars, in all.”

“The funny part of it is,” resumed Max, shaking his head in a way rather odd for him, “that immediately after Roland received his two thousand in cash he disappeared from the scene.  That was almost two years ago; and from that day nobody in Sagamore has ever had a peep at him.  The fact is he might almost be dead.  Once his other aunt, Mrs. Hopewell, who lives now in Carson, had a few lines from Roland.  He simply said he was alive and well, and that he had hopes of seeing her again one of these fine days.”

“Yes, that’s r-r-right,” burst out Toby, in a disgusted tone, “but not a p-peep did he give about what he was d-d-doing, or if he meant to show up and c-c-claim his f-f-fine f-f-fortune.  And all she could make out was that the p-p-postmark on the l-l-letter was Piedmont, N.Y., which on looking up we f-f-found was away up here in the h-h-heart of the old Adirondacks.”

“Well,” said Max, still working industriously away, “Mrs. Hopewell is getting very much concerned about Roland.  Somehow she seemed to fancy the boy, though no one else thought he’d ever amount to anything, because he used to like to wander around in the woods all the while, or go fishing, instead of studying.  But I guess those people hadn’t ever been boys themselves; and all of us can appreciate this liking for the open that Roland showed.”

“And so,” pursued Bandy-legs after the fashion of a story-teller who had-reached a crisis in his tale, “she asked Max here if he wouldn’t be willing to undertake a trip to the mountains with several of his good chums, meaning us, fellows, to try and locate the missing Roland, and bring back some encouraging news; for the good old soul is in great fear that the second year will soon be finished, and unless Roland is able to show four thousand dollars in cash, most of the estate will go to his older cousin, Frederick.  Mrs. Hopewell dislikes this chap very much, because she says he is a bad man, who drinks, and gambles, and does all sorts of things old ladies detest.  Well, we took her up in a jiffy as soon as we heard the glorious news about school being closed for two weeks; and as she foots all the bills, we’re bound to have a jolly time of it, even if we don’t run across Roland; and I think that is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

That was a pretty long speech for even Bandy-legs to make, and yet it covered considerable of the ground, and explained just how it came that Max and his three comrades chanced to be so far away from the home town.