On one of these off-days—–­it was Friday, to be exact—–­Thad showed up over at the home of his chum, evidently laboring under some unusual stress of excitement.  Hugh had walked home with him from school, and being busy with certain things had stayed in his den for two hours or more.  Then in burst Thad, his face red with suppressed news.

“What’s happened now?” demanded Hugh, realizing instantly that the other was in a perfect “sweat” to communicate something he had learned.  “Have the Germans landed on the coast, or is little old New York being bombarded from giant airplanes?  There’s something amiss, I can see from your way of bursting in on me.”

“Oh! you know what I’ve been bothering my head over lately, Hugh,” snapped the panting Thad.  “Of course it’s that hobo!”

“Meaning Matilda’s now quiet and respected brother Lu, eh?” the other chuckled.  “Well, what’s he been doing now—–­cut stick, and lit out, as we hoped would be the case, finding life in and around a sleepy town like Scranton too dull and commonplace to please the fastidious notions of such a wonderful world traveler?”

“What! that leech clear out, and free his poor sister from the load he’s gone and fastened on her?  Well, it’s just the contrary; he can’t be shaken off, try as you will.  Why, Hugh, even my respected Ma and two of her friends couldn’t do the first thing toward getting Matilda to say she’d chase him off.”

“Oh! that’s the way the land lies, is it, Thad?  Then some of the good ladies of Scranton have been over trying to convince Matilda that blood isn’t thicker than water, and that she is under no sort of obligation to give her wanderer of a brother a shelter, either temporary or permanent, under her little roof.”

“I hurried so after the show was over, Hugh, that I’m out of breath; but I’m getting the same back now, and can soon tell you all about it.  In one way, it was as good as a circus, though it did make me grit my teeth to see how that miserable sinner acted.  Oh!  I just wished for a chance to give him a good kick or two.  Why, honest, Hugh, I believe I could willingly assist in tarring and feathering a scamp like Brother Lu, who can settle down on his poor relative, and expect to be waited on and fed and treated like an invalid the rest of his life, while all the time he’s as strong as anything, and as sleek as a well-fed rat!” Hugh laughed outright at the comparison.

“Go to it, then, Thad, and relieve my curiosity.  You’ve got me so worked up by now that I’ll surely burst if you don’t spin the whole story in a hurry.”

“Well, it’s this way,” began the other, as he fanned his heated face with a paper be picked up from Hugh’s table.  “I happened to know that Ma and a couple of the other ladies who have been so kind to Matilda during the last year had decided it was a duty they owed her to pay her a visit, take a look for themselves at this Brother Lu, to decide if he was really an object of pity, or a big fraud; and also advise Mrs. Hosmer that she ought to give him his walking papers right away.