“I haven’t got over my surprise yet, sir, at discovering the real character of the man who went with me.  I am sorry I met him.  I don’t like to distrust people.”

“Nor I. But it is not necessary to distrust everybody.  In your journey through the world you will make many agreeable and trustworthy acquaintances in whom it will be safe to confide.  It is only necessary to be cautious and not give your confidence too soon.”

“Oh, I didn’t mention that I met somebody from Wayneboro,” said Herbert.

“Was it Eben Graham?”

“Yes.”

“I met him myself on Washington Street.  Did you speak to him?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I suppose he goes back to-night?”

“I don’t think he will go back at all, Mr. Melville.”

His employer looked at him inquiringly.

“I saw him buy a ticket to Chicago, though he does not know it,” continued Herbert.  “When he spoke with me he didn’t admit it, but spoke of going back by an afternoon train.”

“I am afraid he has appropriated some of his father’s funds,” said Melville.  “I doubt if Ebenezer Graham would voluntarily furnish him the means of going West.”

“That was just what occurred to me,” said Herbert; “but I didn’t like to think that Eben would steal.”

“Perhaps he has not.  We shall be likely to hear when we return.  But you must be hungry.  We will go in to dinner.”

Herbert followed Mr. Melville into the dining room, where a good dinner was ordered, and partaken of.  Herbert looked over the bill of fare, but the high prices quite startled him.  He was not used to patronizing hotels, and it seemed to him that the price asked for a single dish ought to be enough to pay for a whole dinner for two.  He knew about what it cost for a meal at home, and did not dream that it would amount to so much more at a hotel.

When the check was brought Herbert looked at it.

“Two dollars and a half!” he exclaimed.

“It costs an awful amount to live in Boston.”

“Oh a dinner can be got much cheaper at most places in Boston,” said George Melville, smiling, “but I am used to Parker’s, and generally come here.”

“I am glad it doesn’t cost so much to live in Wayneboro,” said Herbert.  “We couldn’t afford even one meal a day.”

“You haven’t asked me what the doctor said,” remarked Melville, as they left the dining room.

“Excuse me, Mr. Melville.  It wasn’t from any lack of interest.”

“He advises me to go West by the first of October, either to Colorado or Southern California.”

Herbert’s countenance fell.  The first of October would soon come, and his pleasant and profitable engagement with Mr. Melville would close.

“I am sorry,” he said, gravely.

“I am not so sorry as I should have been a few weeks ago,” said Melville.  “Then I should have looked forward to a journey as lonely and monotonous.  Now, with a companion, I think I may have a pleasant time.”