“How is father feeling?” asked Frank, when he entered the house with his packages under his arm.

“I think he is a little feverish,” answered Mrs. Hardy.

“Does his foot hurt him much?”

“He says not. Doctor Basswood put something on to ease the pain.” Mrs. Hardy paused for a moment. “Your father brought bad news from Philadelphia,” she continued.

“What bad news, mother?”

“It is about Mr. Garrison. He has got into trouble with that benevolent order.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“There is a shortage in the funds of the order.”

“For which Jabez Garrison is responsible?”

“So they claim.”

“What does Mr. Garrison say about it?”

“He told your father that it would all be straightened out in a week.”

“Does father believe it?”

“He won’t say. He is much worried, and I don’t wish to ask too many questions for fear it might make your father worse.”

“Didn’t I say Garrison was a snake?” went on Frank. “I am sorry father trusted him.”

“So am I—now. But it can’t be helped.”

“Do you know what father was going to do about it?”

“He said he had intended to go to Philadelphia again next Monday. But of course, he can’t go now.”

“Can’t I go for him?”

“Possibly, although I don’t see what you can do.”

“I could have a talk with Mr. Garrison and also with the other men who are interested in the order.”

“Well, we’ll wait and see how matters turn,” said Mrs. Hardy, with a sigh.

The accident had happened on Saturday, and during Sunday Mr. Hardy was decidedly feverish, so that the doctor had to come and attend him twice. The night to follow was an anxious one for the whole family, but by Monday noon the sufferer felt much better, although, on account of his crushed foot, he did not dare to move.

The store had been closed, but before and after school Frank delivered the orders that were left on the slate, and also went to such customers as his father mentioned. Trade was indeed slow, and the boy could readily see that the two rivals of his parent were doing the larger portion of the business. And this was not to be wondered at, since each had a fine location and made a very attractive display. If the truth must be told, Mr. Hardy was a bit old-fashioned in his ways, and he allowed his rivals to go ahead of him without much of a protest.

“I wish I knew all about the store,” thought Frank. “I’d go in for all the business there was.”

A letter had been sent to Jabez Garrison by Mrs. Hardy—the letter being dictated by her husband—but Wednesday passed without any answer being received. On this day Frank returned from school, stating that the final examination was at an end.

“And I received ninety-three per cent. out of a possible hundred,” said he, with just a little pride.

“You have certainly done very well,” answered Mrs. Hardy, and gave him a fond kiss. “Then you are sure of your grammar-school diploma?”

“Of course.”

“I am very glad to hear it, Frank.”

“How is father?”

“No different from what he was this morning. He is very anxious to hear from Mr. Garrison.”

“Then you have no word yet?”

“None whatever.”

“I don’t like that.”

“Neither do I.”

“Perhaps I’d better go to Philadelphia for him after all.”

“He says he will wait another day.”

The next day passed and still no word was received.

“Frank, do you think you could talk to Mr. Garrison?” questioned the boy’s father.

“Yes, sir—if you’ll tell me about what you’ll want me to say.”

“I want to find out just how he stands in relation to that benevolent order. If you can’t find out from him I want you to go to Mr. Bardwell Mason, the secretary. Here is his address on a card. I want to know exactly how matters stand.”

“What shall I do if I find Mr. Garrison has used up some money that doesn’t belong to him?”

“Tell him for me that he must straighten out the matter at once. If he does not I shall apply to the authorities for protection.”

“Could the authorities make you pay that ten thousand dollars if Jabez Garrison didn’t pay it?”

“Certainly, if he was in arrears that amount.”

“It’s a big sum of money, father.”

“To lose that amount would ruin me, Frank.”

“Ruin you?”

“Yes. Business is so bad that I need the money to help matters along. If I lose the cash I’ll have to close up or sell out.”

“Then I think you ought to get after Mr. Garrison without delay—or let me get after him.”

“I do not wish to appear too forward—in case everything turns out right, Frank. Mr. Garrison has done me some good turns in business in the past.”

Father and son had a talk lasting the best part of an hour, and then Frank came up to his room to prepare himself for the journey.

The youth had been to Philadelphia several times during the past two years, so he knew he would not feel as strange as though the city was totally new to him.

The wreck on the railroad had been cleared away in a few hours after it occurred, so there was nothing to hinder the trains from going through on time. Frank left home at ten in the morning and promised to be back by eight o’clock in the evening, or else to send a telegram stating why he was detained. If necessary he was to stop over night at a hotel his father mentioned to him.

The day was a bright, clear one in late June, and had our hero not had so much on his mind he would have enjoyed the trip very much. As it was, however, he could not help but think of what was before him, and of just how he should approach Mr. Jabez Garrison when he met that individual.

“I mustn’t say too much,” he reasoned. “And yet it won’t do to say too little. My opinion of it is, that father is altogether too easy on him. A man who can’t act on the square when he is handling money belonging to others doesn’t deserve nice treatment.”

It was some time before noon when Frank reached the Quaker City, as Philadelphia is often called. The ride had made him hungry, but he determined to call on Jabez Garrison before hunting up a restaurant for lunch.

The office of the wholesale flour and feed merchant was on Broad Street, and hither Frank found his way.

“Is Mr. Garrison in?” he asked of the clerk who came forward to meet him.

“What name, please?”

“Frank Hardy. I was sent here by my father, Thomas Hardy, of Claster.”

“I’ll see if Mr. Garrison will see you. He is very busy at present.”

“Tell him it is very important.”

The clerk walked to the rear of the place and entered a private office, closing the door behind him.

Frank heard some strong conversation for several minutes and then the clerk returned.

“Mr. Garrison is very sorry, but just now he cannot see you, as he has an important account to look after. He says if you will call at three o’clock this afternoon he will see you, and explain everything to your father’s entire satisfaction.”

“At three o’clock,” repeated Frank.

“That’s it. Just now he has got to look after an account that is worth something like fifteen thousand dollars to him.”

“All right then. I’ll call at three o’clock sharp,” said our hero, and left the place.

The statement the clerk had made was rather reassuring, for if Jabez Garrison had an account of fifteen thousand dollars coming to him he certainly could not be in a very bad condition financially.

“Perhaps this unpleasantness will all blow over after all,” thought Frank. “Father may be right, and I may be misjudging this man.”

He found a restaurant that suited him, and as he had a long time to wait, took his leisure in eating. Then he visited several department stores, spending a full hour in the picture and book departments. Books particularly interested him, and as he had a quarter to spend he let it go in the purchase of a volume which was slightly soiled, and therefore sold to him at one-third of its real value.

“I wouldn’t mind owning a bookstore of my own,” he said to himself, as he set out once again for Jabez Garrison’s offices. “It’s a business that would just suit me. I wonder if Mr. Philip Vincent has a place as large as that department I just visited?” And then he wondered when the gentleman from New York intended to send the book he had promised.

When Frank arrived at the flour dealer’s offices the clerk met him with rather a troubled look on his face.

“Mr. Garrison isn’t here,” he said. “He went out about two hours ago, and I can’t say how soon he’ll be back.”