"Do you live here?" he gasped.
"Yes," was the reply.
Samuel stared at the familiar driveway with the stately elms, and the
lawns with the peacocks and lyre birds. "This is one of the places
where I asked for work," he said. "They ordered me out."
"The deuce they did!" exclaimed the other. "Well, they won't order you
out now."
There was a pause. "You haven't told me your name," put in Samuel
suddenly.
"I thought you'd guess," said the other with a laugh.
"How could I?"
"Why--don't you know what place this is?"
"No," said Samuel. "What?"
And his companion replied, "It's the Lockman place."
Samuel caught his breath and clutched at the seat.
"The Lockman place!" he panted; and then again, "The Lockman place!"
He stared ahead at the great building, with the broad porticos and the
snow-white columns. He could hardly credit his ears.
"I'm the old man's son," added the stranger genially. "Albert's my
name. They call me Bertie."
CHAPTER IX
Properly to understand the thrill which this revelation brought to
Samuel, one would have to consider the state of his mind. With all the
power of his being Samuel was seeking for excellence; and a great and
wise man had explained to him what were the signs by which this
quality was known. And in the "struggle for existence" old Henry
Lockman had succeeded more than any other man of whom Samuel had ever
heard in his life.
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