The Highway 
 
 CXINTON 
 SCOLLAT
 
 LIBRA? 
 
 *UniveJty of Co!.. 
 IRVINE^
 
 A Knight of the Highway
 
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 GEORGE WILLIAM BROWNING 
 Publisher 
 
 CLINTON, NEW YORK
 
 A KNIGHT 
 
 THE 
 
 HIGHWAY 
 
 By CLINTON SCOLLARD 
 
 1908 : 
 
 GEORGE WILLIAM BROWNING 
 CLINTON, N. Y.
 
 
 T2. 
 
 Copyright, 1901, by 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT Co. 
 
 Copyright, 1908, by 
 CLINTON SCOLLARD.
 
 To 
 CHAELES HENRY SMYTH, Ph.D. 
 
 This Romance 
 Of "The Hills of Home."
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Ne er-Do- Well 7 
 
 II. By the Mohondaga 20 
 
 III. Off for the Hop-Fields 39 
 
 IV. At the Mertons 55 
 V. An Old Acquaintance 70 
 
 VI. The New Pole-Puller 88 
 
 VII. The Spring at the Wood-Edge 102 
 
 VIII. The Hop-Dance 115 
 
 IX. In the Orchard 132 
 
 X. A Midnight Blaze 143 
 
 XI. A Morning Stroll 158 
 
 XII. The Blue Creek Road 168 
 
 XIII. An Arrival 181 
 
 XIV. Good-By to the Hop-Fields 193 
 
 XV. Back to Hintonville 207 
 
 XVI. Commencement at Monroe 
 
 College 217
 
 A KNIGHT 
 OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE NE ER-DO-WELL 
 
 THE powerful locomotive which 
 drew the long freight-train 
 came to a sudden stop. Some 
 thing in the nature of a spasm, 
 so human was it, communicated itself 
 from car to car, and each in turn ceased 
 to move. The jar wakened Rossiter, out 
 stretched upon the top of some boxes and 
 bales, from a heavy sleep, and on opening 
 his eyes and finding himself encompassed 
 by a breathless tropical blackness he did 
 not for an instant realize where he was. 
 He put out his hand and encountered the 
 boards of the car-roof just above his head. 
 Then he recalled his whereabouts. He 
 was streaming with perspiration, for the 
 atmosphere of the confined space was 
 stifling. 
 All day the pitiless September sun had
 
 8 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 blazed in a coppery heaven; all day the 
 parched earth had given back to the sky 
 the fumes of heat; and yet Eossiter had 
 clung to his oven-like retreat, in the first 
 place because with every revolution of the 
 wheels he was carried nearer to his des 
 tination, and in the second place because 
 he could not easily descend from the train 
 while it was in motion. Half a loaf of 
 bread and a few dry cookies had served 
 to quiet the gnawings of hunger, while two 
 wizened lemons had in a measure allayed 
 the pangs of thirst. But now he sought in 
 vain for the last precious bit of fruit 
 which he had intended to keep against this 
 time of urgent need. The jolting of the 
 car had evidently caused his treasure to 
 roll from the spot where he had placed it 
 with such care. Uttering an exclamation 
 of disappointment, he dragged himself a 
 few feet and placed his lips to a crack in 
 the side of the car, through which he 
 drank eagerly great draughts of the par 
 tially cooled night air. As he was about to 
 resume his former position he inhaled a 
 heavy waft of engine smoke. 
 
 The devil ! " he cried, with a sputter of 
 disgust. This is more than I can stand !
 
 THE NE ER-DO-WELL 
 
 He seized his little bundle of clothes 
 and worked his way over the bales and 
 boxes to the door. For a time he feared 
 that he was hopelessly a prisoner, as the 
 obstinate barrier to his escape would not 
 budge. The perspiration streamed from 
 his forehead into his eyes, and his hair 
 was as wet as though he had soused his 
 head in water. He had taken stock of the 
 fastenings when he had stowed himself 
 away at Clevalo, but he was discovering 
 that an easy entrance into a freight-car 
 packed with merchandise that has space 
 enough to shift slightly does not neces 
 sarily mean an easy exit. 
 
 At length, after several sharp creaks of 
 remonstrance, the door gaped sufficiently 
 to allow him to squeeze his body through. 
 He cast a glance up and down the ad 
 joining track and then leaped. As his 
 feet crunched upon the cinders someone 
 sprang from the next car to the top of the 
 one he had just quitted. It was a brake- 
 man. 
 
 "You damn tramp!" he shouted, and 
 raised a hand as though about to hurl a 
 missile. 
 
 Rossiter ran, dodging as he went, but
 
 10 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 nothing save a harsh guffaw followed from 
 the car-top. 
 
 "Sold, Johnny!" bellowed the brake- 
 man; "out I can tell ye if I d had a hunk 
 of coal, ye d have got it blim in the back!" 
 
 Just then, with a long series of jerks, 
 the train started. An electric light be 
 yond the tracks threw the gesticulating 
 figure on the car-top into strong outline 
 for a moment and the pose held Kossi- 
 ter s attention, but the effect was quickly 
 spoiled by the onward movement of the 
 train. Kossiter now turned to survey his 
 surroundings. The blinking electrics told 
 him that he was in a town of considerable 
 size. Above the rumbling cars several 
 large buildings loomed blackly. Behind 
 him the ground sloped sharply to a 
 stream, which he could not see on account 
 of a white vapor which hung over it. At 
 his left was a bridge, and as he examined 
 this, and the ugly frame structures which 
 lined the street toward which it led, a 
 sense of familiarity gave him a swift thrill 
 of surprise. 
 
 "The deuce!" he exclaimed. "I won 
 der if it is?" 
 
 He wheeled to the right and regarded
 
 THE NE ER-DO-WELL 11 
 
 a long freight-house and a tall pile capped 
 by a huge sign, the letters upon which he 
 vainly strove to distinguish. A puzzled 
 expression crossed his face, and he waited 
 impatiently for the caboose of the freight- 
 train to pass. At length the tracks were 
 clear. A few rods away, on one side of a 
 small square, the lights of a hotel twinkled 
 through the branches of a row of elm- 
 trees. Directly opposite was a railway 
 station, a short distance from which a 
 freight-and-accommodation-train was pull 
 ing out. 
 
 "Illica, by Jove!" cried Bossiter. 
 "Well, if this isn t curious!" and his mind 
 went back a dozen years to the June day 
 when he had last set foot in the quiet city 
 on the banks of the Mohondaga. Then 
 he was a thoughtless youth fresh from 
 college, full of a youth s ideals and 
 dreams, not without ambition, and now 
 well, his present status was not one to 
 be contemplated with pride, nor did the 
 vista down which he looked in retrospect 
 afford him many gleams of satisfaction. 
 He was wont to tell himself at times that 
 he had had hard luck, but when he faced 
 the clear, cold truth he knew in his inner-
 
 12 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 most soul that luck had played no part 
 whatever in his descent of the ladder of 
 respectability. Never more fully than at 
 this moment, amid surroundings long ago 
 familiar, did he realize what an utter 
 wreck he had made of his life. But he put 
 on the devil-may-care air he was at inter 
 vals accustomed to assume and slouched 
 across the tracks in the direction of the 
 station. 
 
 "What hour can it be?" he muttered. 
 "Bather late, I judge, by the fact that 
 there are so few people about." 
 
 There was a man standing in the open 
 station door-way whom Eossiter took, 
 from his dress, to be either a ticket agent 
 or conductor. He had his watch in his 
 hand. 
 
 "Will you be kind enough to tell me the 
 time?" Bossiter asked. 
 
 The railroad man opened his lips as 
 though he were about to answer, but as he 
 glanced at his questioner astonishment 
 seemed to choke his utterance. He looked 
 Bossiter up and down, and finally let his 
 eyes rest upon the vagrant s countenance, 
 covered with a ten days growth of beard, 
 the forehead grimy and streaked with
 
 THE NE ER-DO-WELL 13 
 
 perspiration, the hair hanging in greasy 
 elf-locks from beneath a torn cap. 
 
 "Well, if you ain t a perfect bloomin 
 beauty!" he exclaimed, with an amused 
 chuckle. 
 
 Eossiter s hand went up to his face as 
 he moved on. He searched his pockets for 
 what served him as a handkerchief, pulled 
 it out, and mopped his forehead, cheeks 
 and neck. Then he paused an instant and 
 endeavored to smooth his hair a trifle, but 
 without much success. The man s words 
 had affected him more than such a speech 
 would usually have done. He had re 
 ceived too many kicks and cuffs and oaths 
 to heed them much, as a rule, but somehow 
 the rebuff which he had just met stung 
 him like a sharp blow upon an open 
 wound. Heretofore he had associated II- 
 lica with nothing but pleasant things. 
 Whenever he had visited it formerly from 
 the small town less than a dozen miles 
 distant where he had passed his college 
 days, he had always been treated with 
 very marked favor. To Illica the students 
 frequently sojourned for their half-holi 
 days. It was where they attended the 
 theatre, had their dinners, and sometimes
 
 14 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 joined in social functions. Among the 
 young men of his time at Monroe College, 
 as the adjoining institution was called, no 
 one visited Illica more frequently than 
 Rossiter. With plenty of money at his 
 command, possessed of a bright manner 
 and a ready wit, and being withal quite 
 prominent as an athlete, he had once had 
 a number of friends and many acquain 
 tances in the staid but pleasant inland city. 
 
 He supposed that he had buried shame; 
 he had told himself that he had worn out 
 regret; but now both rose, alert and ag 
 gressive, to torment him. As he moved in 
 the direction of the square, he passed one 
 of the station windows and glanced in. A 
 clock high upon the wall informed him 
 that it was quarter-past eleven. 
 
 "I must have a beer, if it takes my last 
 nickel," he said, moistening his parched 
 lips with his tongue. 
 
 Presently he rounded the corner of the 
 station, and stood in the full glare of the 
 electric lights. There were a few men 
 seated upon the hotel steps, and at the 
 upper end of the open space a trolley-car 
 was putting down a passenger, otherwise 
 there was no indication of life. Rossiter
 
 THE NE ER-DO-WELL 15 
 
 plunged a hand into one of his trousers 
 pockets and drew forth four coins, a five- 
 cent piece and three pennies. He knew 
 that it would be folly to attempt to enter 
 the hotel, so he started along the north 
 side of the square in search of a saloon. 
 ,He did not have to go far. A gaily illu 
 mined place, which went by the name of 
 "The Keneseo Thirst Parlor," soon 
 caught his eye. Two men, whom he had 
 not noted in his first survey of the square, 
 were lounging upon opposite sides of the 
 door. 
 
 "Is that yer las chaw o terbaccer ye ve 
 got in yer face, Bill?" demanded one of 
 the other as Bossiter approached. 
 
 The expression was not new to him. He 
 had heard it before among men of the 
 class to which these loafers belonged, the 
 class to whose level, or lower, he himself 
 had sunk, but it now carried with it an 
 unwonted reproach. It revealed to him 
 with painful vividness his own position in 
 the world, and he cursed the fate that had 
 caused him to leave the freight-train. 
 Illica was potent in rousing the unwelcome 
 spectre of the past, in stirring memories 
 that he had fancied dead or so somnolent
 
 16 A KNIGHT or THE HIGHWAY 
 
 that they would never waken to plague 
 him, in kindling longings that he had for 
 many a day resolutely banished. 
 
 As Rossiter drew near, and it became 
 evident that he was seeking the saloon, 
 the two loungers stepped back to allow 
 him to enter, scanning him with leering 
 curiosity as he walked toward the bar. 
 With one hand he tossed his little bundle 
 of clothes upon the polished slab behind 
 which, in trousers and gauze undershirt, a 
 close-cropped, red-faced Irish-American 
 was standing, and with the other cast 
 down his last precious nickel. 
 
 "A glass of beer, for heaven s sake!" 
 said he. 
 
 The saloon-keeper shot an amused 
 glance at him, seized a beer-mug, turned 
 a spigot, held the mug up, eyeing its con 
 tents critically, blew off the foam, put it 
 beneath the tap again, and then placed it 
 before Rossiter with a flourish. 
 
 "Still hotter n ell!" he remarked. 
 
 Rossiter answered with a little nod of 
 assent, and then gave himself over to the 
 luxury of the beaded draught. No bottle 
 of wine quaffed in his primrose days had 
 ever afforded him quite the satisfaction he
 
 THE NE ER-DO-WELL 17 
 
 experienced from that plebeian beer. He 
 set the mug down with a sigh. 
 
 "Have another?" asked the saloon 
 keeper. 
 
 Rossiter smiled regretfully and pro 
 duced his three remaining pennies, chink 
 ing them in his hand. 
 
 "Guess not," he answered. 
 
 Oh, well, said the man behind the bar 
 good-naturedly, "I see you re ruther down 
 on yer luck. I ll stan treat. They s 
 some crackers over there," he added, 
 pointing to a nicked dish that stood upon 
 a table on the opposite side of the room. 
 
 Rossiter helped himself to a generous 
 handful, and, returning, took up the brim 
 ming mug that was awaiting him. 
 
 "Here s looking at you," he said. "My 
 best thanks." 
 
 "Goin hop-pickin , I suppose?" said 
 the saloon-keeper tossing off his "pony." 
 
 "Hadn t thought of it," replied Rossi 
 ter, who now recalled that it was the sea 
 son of the hop-harvest, when there was a 
 large influx of people into Illica on their 
 way to the hop-fields, a dozen miles or so 
 back among the hills. 
 
 "Thought likely ye were. They s a big
 
 18 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 crowd goin this year. They say the 
 crop s heavy, and the price fer pickin 
 good. 
 
 An idea flashed into Bossiter s brain. 
 
 I wonder if I could get a chance to 
 pick?" he queried. 
 
 "Gosh, yes!" said the saloon-keeper, 
 "plenty o chance if ye keep sober." 
 
 Rossiter made some additional inquiries 
 in regard to the matter of hop-picking, 
 then, as the saloon-keeper suggested that 
 he guessed he d shut up, the vagrant took 
 his bundle from the bar and sought the 
 street. 
 
 * I might try it, he mused as he strolled 
 aimlessly in the direction of the station. 
 "I ll see how it strikes me in the morn 
 ing." 
 
 Reaching the railway tracks, he halted 
 for a moment in indecision. The station 
 was closed, so it was useless to attempt to 
 get an hour or two of rest upon one of the 
 seats under the plea that he was waiting 
 for a train. Turning to the left, he- 
 walked parallel with the tracks for more 
 than thrice a score of paces, crossed a de 
 serted street, and descried directly in 
 front of him a freight-house, along all
 
 THE NE ER-DO-WELL 19 
 
 sides of which a platform extended. On 
 the side towards the railway some freight- 
 cars were standing upon a switch. He 
 gained the platform and began trying the 
 doors of these cars. They were all secure 
 ly fastened, however, so he slipped down 
 between one of them and the platform, 
 beneath which he groped his way till he 
 found where some chips and sweepings 
 had been thrown. Here he arranged his 
 bundle for a pillow, stretched himself out, 
 and was soon calmly slumbering. Night 
 long near him darkened express-trains 
 went rushing by or began to slacken speed 
 with a hiss of steam and a grating of 
 wheels, but they disturbed him not, and 
 when the breezeless dawn began to break 
 he was still sleeping as peacefully as 
 though his bed were one of luxury.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 
 
 ROSSITEE S rest was broken the 
 next morning by the rattle and 
 creak of a hand-truck on the 
 boards above his head. Through 
 the open space between the ground and 
 the floor of the freight-car just in front 
 of him he could see the sunlight gleaming 
 upon the rails, and so knew that it was 
 broad day. Commonly, on awakening, he 
 was in no haste to be stirring, but on this 
 occasion he displayed an unusual activity. 
 Almost as soon as he realized that the 
 wonted round of busy men had begun, he 
 sat up, shook the dirt from his bundle and 
 from his clothes and crept from his shel 
 ter. Crawling under the freight-car, so 
 that no one about the freight-house should 
 see him and suspect him of mischief, he 
 stepped off briskly, rubbing the sleep 
 from his eyes. 
 
 The air was still fresh with the cool of 
 the dawn, but the sun was blear and red 
 through the haze that curtained the 
 heavens, and there was every indication
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 21 
 
 of another sweltering day. On glancing 
 along the street upon which the freight- 
 house faced, Rossiter noted, not far dis 
 tant, a large sign extending over the 
 sidewalk. "STABLING" was the word 
 which, years previous, had been traced 
 upon it. As Rossiter drew near the sign 
 he beheld a wide gate which gave en 
 trance to an extensive yard in the rear 
 of a second- or third-class hotel. Upon 
 the yard a long shed opened and likewise 
 a capacious barn. In the centre of the 
 barn door-way a hostler was leisurely 
 grooming a horse. Towards this man the 
 vagrant advanced. 
 
 "Can I get a job? "asked he, as he came 
 within speaking distance. "I d be willing 
 to work for a bit of breakfast." 
 
 The hostler paused, currycomb in one 
 hand, brush in the other. 
 
 "Know anythin about a hoss?" he de 
 manded, surveying the applicant with 
 considerable doubt. 
 
 "Yes," said Rossiter, "something." 
 
 "Le s see." 
 
 The vagabond dropped his bundle, and 
 the man gave currycomb and brush to him. 
 
 "You ll do," he said presently. "I
 
 giss ye kin earn yer brekfust all right 
 enough." He moved away, and Eossiter 
 heard him changing the bedding in the 
 stalls. Then he climbed to the loft and 
 began pitching down hay. After a little 
 he descended, and soon appeared leading 
 another horse. 
 
 1 i That 11 do f er the bay, he said < Try 
 yer hand on this un." 
 
 For an hour or more the new stableman 
 continued his labors, when the hostler an 
 nounced that it was time for "grub." 
 After a refreshing wash at the barn pump 
 Eossiter followed his companion into a 
 small, bare room which was filled with the 
 odor of cooking. It was a plain meal that 
 the two men sat down to, but it was ex 
 ceedingly palatable. Neither spoke while 
 eating, and the maid who attended to their 
 wants evidently considered herself decid 
 edly above them, for she did not deign to 
 address them with so much as a single 
 word. When they had finished they went 
 out together. 
 
 "Say," said the hostler, as they halted 
 in the centre of the stable yard, "how d 
 ye like my job fer a couple o weeks? I 
 want to go hop-pickin . "
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 23 
 
 "I think some of going myself," replied 
 Eossiter. 
 
 "Oh, yer do, eh? AVell, if ye don t con 
 clude ter go, I d be glad to have ye come 
 ere. Ye re a pritty tidy hand with a 
 boss." 
 
 * Thanks. AVliat s the job worth I 
 
 "Five a week, with feed an lodgin ." 
 
 "When would you want to know?" 
 
 "Any time to-day ud do." 
 
 "All right. I ll drop around to-night 
 and tell you if I ll come. If you don t see 
 me again, you ll have to find another 
 chap," and Eossiter sought the street. 
 
 "Here s luck!" he ejaculated. "May be 
 things are going to take a turn at last." 
 He straightened himself, and something 
 of the reckless sullenness left his face. 
 
 "I must find a quiet spot and think it 
 out," he mused. 
 
 He crossed the railway tracks, and 
 struck into a narrow street which, he re 
 called, formerly led to the base-ball 
 grounds and the river. It was a squalid 
 neighborhood in the old days, he remem 
 bered, and it did not appear to have 
 changed materially during the years that 
 had elapsed since he had last viewed it.
 
 24 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 Bagged children were rolling in the dirt 
 by the roadside, slatternly women even at 
 that hour nine o clock had not yet struck 
 were gossiping from window to window, 
 and two or three men as unkempt as Eos- 
 siter himself were squirting tobacco-juice 
 over the dilapidated board sidewalk. Both 
 women and men eyed him furtively as he 
 went by, and one of the former flung a 
 coarse jibe after him. 
 
 He found an open field where the fenced 
 base-ball grounds had been, and beyond 
 this, as in the past, stretched a level 
 meadow, sweeping away beyond the river 
 to the base of haze-wrapt hills. Quarter 
 of a mile distant he noticed a group of 
 elms upon the banks of the stream, and 
 towards these he directed his steps. When 
 he reached them he cast himself upon the 
 sward in the shade and set his back 
 against one of the massive boles. Behind 
 him was the city, slowly beginning to 
 steam with heat under the pitiless sun; 
 before him was the languid river, low 
 from drought, lazing between its irregular 
 and freshet- washed banks. Far overhead 
 in the lofty boughs was the faint twitter 
 of bird-song.
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 25 
 
 This was what Rossiter loved. The city 
 meant nothing to him but miserable fail 
 ure, but the free air of the country carried 
 with it a certain peace of spirit, and for 
 the most part a large forgetfulness. Dur 
 ing the three years of his wanderings the 
 virus of vagabondage had so permeated 
 his every fibre that he rarely longed for 
 the existence he had once known. When 
 he was candid with himself he admitted 
 that it was an irreparable blot upon his 
 manhood that he did not strive to rise 
 from the slough into which his own weak 
 ness had dragged him. At rare intervals, 
 when thoughts of re-entering the struggle 
 came to him, there was always the old 
 weakness to combat, the realization that 
 not twice but thrice he had played fast and 
 loose with his chances in the world, and so 
 he allowed himself to drift. There was 
 nothing inherently bad in Rossiter s na 
 ture; there was no dishonor to be laid at 
 his door. If he had assumed something of 
 the uncouth manners and familiarized 
 himself with the low language of the men 
 with whom he frequently associated, these 
 were surface matters, things which, if oc 
 casion demanded, would be sloughed as a
 
 26 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 snake drops its skin. Weak though he 
 was, and reckless though he had been 
 when fortune was his, back of all was a 
 fineness that those who came into any 
 thing like intimate contact with him could 
 but notice. The lack of a mother s love 
 and guidance, and a mistaken generosity 
 and a subsequent obtuse insistance on the 
 part of his father, accounted for much in 
 the wreck he had made of everything to 
 which he had put his hand. Born with a 
 keen artistic sense, endowed with an un 
 usual amount of real literary talent, his 
 likings had always been made light of at 
 home, and when it came to the choice of 
 a career he had that forced upon him for 
 which he had a positive distaste. 
 
 Then his father died; a considerable 
 amount of money fell to him ; false friends 
 flattered and cajoled; and very soon he 
 was penniless. His elder brother helped 
 him to a position, but though he did his 
 best, his apparent indifference brought 
 about his dismissal. His sister s husband 
 now tried to give him a lift, but the recip 
 ient soon discovered that he was a hin 
 drance rather than an aid, and so one 
 night, returning from his work di scour-
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 27 
 
 aged and embittered, and being re 
 proached by his sister for his general 
 uselessness, he went to his room, put a few 
 traps together, slung them upon a stout 
 cane over his shoulder, and walked out 
 into the darkness, from that hour a vag 
 abond, wandering whither fancy led, now 
 working at this or that, now begging, suf 
 fering sometimes, but not without a cer 
 tain enjoyment in life, vastly happier than 
 he had been when he felt himself depen 
 dent on, and a reproach to, those who were 
 his nearest of kin. Such was the story of 
 this ne er-do-well, a story of weakness, of 
 folly, of heedlessness, but not one of crime 
 or of dishonor. 
 
 Having settled himself to his satisfac 
 tion under the lofty elm, Rossiter opened 
 the bundle which he had cast by his side 
 a dilapidated change of underwear, a pair 
 of socks, a vest, and an outing shirt and 
 extracted a briar-wood pipe of cheap 
 make and a small piece of smoking-plug. 
 From the tobacco he cut with miserly care 
 enough to fill half the pipe-bowl, and hav 
 ing lighted it leaned back with a sigh of 
 comfort. It was the first indulgence of the 
 kind he had allowed himself for several
 
 28 
 
 days, and the fact that he was permitting 
 himself to enjoy so epicurean a pleasure 
 at this morning hour indicated that some 
 thing of unusual moment was occupying 
 his mind. 
 
 After having blown, to his intense satis 
 faction, two or three fragrant clouds into 
 the warm September air, he took from his 
 pocket a square envelope, from which he 
 drew a letter. This he spread out before 
 him upon one knee. It read in this wise : 
 
 "DEAR PHILIP: I have heard from your 
 former friend, Crossgrove, that you have again 
 been seen in or near Kalamanti, and I am send 
 ing this enclosed in a note to him in the hope of 
 reaching you. For the sake of our dead father 
 and mother, for your sake, and for the sake of 
 us all, I want you to come back for another 
 trial. Will you not? On the first of October 
 the Evening Star passes into the hands of an 
 acquaintance of mine, George Agnew, who in 
 tends making some sweeping changes in the 
 staff. Recalling some sketches and skits you 
 once wrote which received much pleasant com 
 ment, and the leanings you formerly had towards 
 literature, which father (very unfortunately and 
 injudiciously, I now believe) so insistently dis 
 couraged, I spoke of you to Mr. Agnew, who 
 has very generously offered to give you a 
 chance on the paper. October first, as I said 
 above, is the date when the change in man-
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 29 
 
 agement takes place, and if, by good fortune, 
 you receive this letter, I beg that you will not 
 allow this (perhaps last) opportunity to re 
 trieve yourself to slip from you. I hope that 
 you will believe me still 
 
 "Your affectionate brother, 
 
 "ARCHIBALD ROSSITER." 
 
 "It s mighty good of Archie," com 
 mented the wanderer, "a blamed sight too 
 good! I don t deserve it. I d probably 
 make a mess of it, just as I have of every 
 thing else but this," and he glanced down 
 at his worn and dusty shoes, and at his 
 faded and weather- stained garb. "And 
 yet, well, it s what I always used to 
 think I d like, and here I am more than 
 half way there." 
 
 When his brother s missive had been 
 handed to him two weeks previous he had 
 been upon the point of turning south. In 
 stead he set his face eastward, not with a 
 definite idea of falling in with what his 
 brother had proposed, but with that pos 
 sibility in view. Now, after having had 
 the past so vividly brought before him by 
 his unforeseen tarry in Illica, after having 
 experienced emotions that he had fancied 
 belonged almost totally to a different en-
 
 30 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 vironment, he was more strongly moved 
 than ever thus to challenge fate. 
 
 But the old weakness, the hesitancy, the 
 dislike of responsibility, fostered by his 
 roving life was not lightly to be overcome ; 
 so he lay and debated. Against his un 
 doubted desire to redeem himself, a desire 
 which was gradually strengthening, rose 
 the consciousness of former failure, and 
 also the undeniable fascination his present 
 existence had come to have for him. Half 
 an hour slipped away, an hour, and it was 
 mid-morning. The heat increased, and the 
 reclining man grew drowsy. 
 
 Vaguely, as in a dream, he marked two 
 figures cross his angle of vision and follow 
 the river bank to a point not many rods 
 from where he was lying. He saw these 
 persons begin to divest themselves of their 
 clothes, commented to himself that they 
 were going for a swim, and here his 
 scarcely aroused curiosity ceased. He 
 closed his eyes and presently lost con 
 sciousness. Twenty minutes had elapsed 
 when a scream rent the quiet air, a sharp, 
 boyish cry of terror. At the second out 
 cry, louder and shriller than the first, 
 Eossiter sat up. A naked form was leap-
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 31 
 
 ing wildly about upon the river bank, with 
 arms outflung, sending forth one terrified 
 shriek after another. To Eossiter s ears 
 the shouts now resolved themselves into, 
 
 "Help! help!" 
 
 The awakened man was on his feet in an 
 instant. In such an emergency as this his 
 habitual indecision did not show itself. 
 Off went his cap, coat and shoes, and away 
 he sprang over the sward towards the dis 
 traught figure. He was naturally fleet of 
 foot, and his muscles were hard from hun 
 dreds of leagues of tramping. 
 
 The youth, for such Kossiter saw the 
 shouter to be, grew more frantic as he 
 realized that aid was approaching, turning 
 first towards the stream and then in the 
 direction from which assistance was com 
 ing. 
 
 "Oh, quick! be quick!" he cried, but 
 now his voice seemed to fail him, and he 
 did little more than utter a series of in 
 coherent sounds. 
 
 Once within view of the river, Eossiter 
 was not slow to grasp the situation. In 
 mid-stream was a bather, who, by a spas 
 modic action of one hand, was just con 
 triving to keep his head above the surface.
 
 32 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 He was swallowing great gulps of water 
 with every movement, and was unques 
 tionably on the verge of sinking. 
 
 "Stick to it!" yelled Eossiter, without 
 slackening speed, "I ll be with you in a 
 minute. 
 
 One spring took him down upon the 
 caked mud below the overhanging sod, and 
 a second carried him waist deep into the 
 river. Then he struck out with vigor 
 ous strokes. He approached the exhausted 
 swimmer cautiously, knowing if he would 
 save him he must not allow himself to be 
 caught in his drowning grip. When just 
 beyond the reach of his arms he paused. 
 The poor fellow made a frantic effort to 
 seize hold upon him, but Eossiter was 
 watchful and easily eluded his grasp. It 
 was like the last flicker of a dying flame. 
 With a gasp and a gurgle the man gave 
 over the struggle. Here was Eossiter s 
 opportunity, and he was alert to improve 
 it. As the sinking bather s head was dis 
 appearing he gave a powerful forward 
 plunge. Out went his hand, and his strong 
 fingers were fastened in a mop of soaking 
 hair. There was but a spark of conscious 
 ness left in the body of the man when Eos-
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 33 
 
 siter jerked his head above water. He 
 was well-nigh a dead weight, and his 
 rescuer had no difficulty in whirling him 
 about and gripping him beneath the arm 
 pits. In this wise lie pushed him ashore. 
 He began to revive a little as shallow 
 water was reached, and was able, witli 
 Rossiter s ami encircling his waist, to 
 drag himself up to the grass of the bank, 
 where he sank in a limp heap. Presently 
 he began to vomit violently, whereat the 
 boy who had been standing by, mouth 
 agape and speechless, commenced to moan 
 and whimper. 
 
 "It s the best thing that could happen," 
 said Rossiter reassuringly. "He ll come 
 around all right shortly." 
 
 Indeed, it was not long before the res 
 cued man sat up, a look of disgust and 
 loathing upon his features. 
 
 "Mother of Moses!" he exclaimed, "but 
 I shouldn t want Mohondaga water for a 
 steady diet ! 
 
 He caught Rossiter s eye and smiled. 
 
 "You were just in time," he said. 
 "Jim, there, ain t worth shucks. He 
 can t swim a stroke. Another minute an 
 I d a croaked."
 
 34 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 1 i It was rather a close shave, observed 
 Bossiter. 
 
 "Gee, yes!" This was said with con 
 siderable emphasis, and a suspicion of 
 color began to creep into the young man s 
 pallid cheeks. 
 
 He was perhaps twenty-six or -seven 
 years of age, and as Eossiter now glanced 
 from his face to that of the boy, who had 
 edged close to him, he saw at once from 
 the strong resemblance between them that 
 they must be brothers, the younger being 
 hardly more than sixteen. They were not 
 unattractive faces, either of them, and in 
 the elder s Eossiter read lines of deter 
 mination and self-reliance that made him 
 for the instant envious. Both were slimly 
 fashioned, with a slight stoop to the shoul 
 ders, and both had the lifeless complexions 
 of those who spend little time in the open 
 air. They had clear eyes of steel-blue, 
 and the hair of the elder curled slightly. 
 He had, moreover, an insignificant brown 
 mustache. 
 
 "Come out in the sun," said Eossiter 
 to the one he had rescued; "it ll brace 
 you up." 
 
 He gave the young man a helping hand,
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 35 
 
 and steadied him after he had got upon 
 his feet. 
 
 "Gripe, but I m weak!" the whiiom 
 swimmer said. "You wouldn t think it 
 ud take it out of a fellow so," and he sat 
 down near where he had laid his clothes. 
 
 Rossiter now began to realize the con 
 dition of his own garments. 
 
 "I believe I ll have to wring my things 
 out," he remarked, "and let them dry in 
 the sun," and he proceeded forthwith to 
 put this scheme into execution. 
 
 For a space little was said, the two 
 brothers absently watching the vagrant as 
 he spread his worn articles of apparel on 
 the grass. Finally the elder spoke up 
 quickly. 
 
 "How d you happen along just as you 
 did?" he inquired. 
 
 "Oh, I was having a nap over yonder," 
 answered Eossiter, waving his hand in the 
 direction of the elm under which he had 
 been reclining, "ana I heard your brother 
 shout." 
 
 "Having a nap, eh?" this with consider 
 able surprise, as though the speaker could 
 not understand the philosophy of a mid- 
 morning indulgence of that character.
 
 36 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 "Yes, but " with a swift shift of the 
 topic of conversation "you haven t told 
 me what was the trouble with you out 
 there," and Rossiter nodded towards the 
 water. 
 
 "Oh, a cramp caught me. I must have 
 been too warm when I went in. It doubled 
 me all up on one side, and I called to Jim, 
 who was paddlin about in shallow water. 
 He ran out onto the bank scart stiff, and 
 began yellin like mad. It s darn lucky he 
 did, I guess." 
 
 At this the younger brother laughed 
 foolishly. 
 
 "Say," continued the elder, "you ve 
 done me a blamed good turn 
 
 "Don t mention it," said Rossiter, in 
 terrupting him. 
 
 "But, by gosh, I m goin to!" cried the 
 young man. "What do you take me for? 
 Now, as I say, you ve done me a good 
 turn, and I d like to do you one, if you ll 
 let me." 
 
 He looked at Rossiter appealingly. 
 
 "Well," said the latter. 
 
 "You re in hard luck, ain t you? No 
 offence meant." 
 
 Rossiter lowered his eyes.
 
 BY THE MOHONDAGA 37 
 
 Suppose I am?" said he. 
 
 "Got any thin at all to do?" 
 
 "I had an offer this morning." 
 
 "Somethin that you care about?" 
 
 "I can t say that it is." 
 
 "Come along with us, then!" this with 
 a sudden enthusiastic burst of confidence. 
 "My mother nd sister nd Jim nd me s 
 goin hop-pickin . We ve just come up 
 this mornin from Fallsburg down the 
 river where we live, and are goin into the 
 country this afternoon. Fine place, bully 
 grub , nd all that! A chum o mine was 
 to have been along, but he backed out at 
 the last minute, so it ll be all o. k., won t 
 it, Jim?" 
 
 "Sure!" exclaimed the boy. 
 
 Eossiter was more than surprised at 
 this spontaneous proposal. He was not 
 accustomed to gratitude, and that he 
 should inspire anyone with enough confi 
 dence to suggest such an arrangement 
 struck him will something like amazement. 
 But the more he meditated upon the sug 
 gestion the more tempting it was to him. 
 Three weeks and a half had yet to elapse 
 before the first of October. If he should 
 decide to return and accept the offer made
 
 38 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 by his brother s acquaintance, here was 
 an opening which would enable him to go 
 back with a little money in his pocket, 
 doubtless more than he could earn as a 
 hostler. 
 
 "It s mighty good of you to mention 
 such a thing," said he. "Are you sure 
 you really mean it!" 
 
 "Mean it!" echoed the young man, 
 "well, I guess!" 
 
 "Then I m with you!" exclaimed Ros- 
 siter, surprised the instant he had spoken 
 at his own earnestness and decision. 
 
 "My name s Joe Becraft," said the 
 young man, "and this is my brother Jim." 
 
 "Mine is Philip Rossiter, Phil, if you 
 like," said the vagabond, and then he was 
 suddenly conscious that he had given his 
 full name for the first time in three years. 
 Ross he had been accustomed to call him 
 self when there was any question of iden 
 tity. 
 
 "Is it a good omen," he asked himself, 
 "or is it but the beginning of another 
 failure?"
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OFF FOB THE HOP-FIELDS 
 
 YOU see it s like this," Joe Becraft 
 was saying as the three trudged 
 slowly in the blazing sun across 
 the meadow towards the city. 
 "The mill where I ve been workin these 
 six years, an where Jim s just startin in, 
 has shut down a month for repairs, so 
 we re gettin a holiday. Ma always goes 
 pickin hops, an Mame, she s my sister, 
 but Jim an me, we ain t so lucky every 
 year. 
 
 "You like it then?" inquired Eossiter. 
 
 "You d better believe I do. So d you 
 if you were shut up in a mill all the rest of 
 the time." 
 
 "Haven t you a good position?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, I m not kickin . I m under- 
 overseer in the cardin -room. I ll get to 
 be overseer, perhaps, one of these days, 
 -an then " He broke off. There was 
 a happy look in his eyes and he gave a 
 little laugh, while Jim chuckled audibly. 
 
 "What are you snickerin at, you young 
 jay?" cried his brother, making a pretence
 
 4:0 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 of being provoked, and vainly trying to 
 cuff the offender. 
 
 The more Kossiter talked with the elder 
 Becraft the more did he grow to respect 
 if not to admire him, he was so wholly 
 natural, so independent, so self-poised, 
 and yet so entirely without conceit. He 
 was uneducated, save in a rudimentary 
 way, having been the mainstay of the 
 family for eight years, yet he kept himself 
 informed on the topics of the day, and had 
 his opinions on public affairs, which were 
 more free from bias than the views held 
 by most of those in his station in life. 
 Crude he was, but earnest, frank, and 
 warm-hearted, and Kossiter was shamed 
 when he contrasted his own weakness and 
 lack of purpose with this young fellow s 
 unassuming strength. 
 
 As the three reached the square beyond 
 the railway tracks, Eossiter noticed that 
 Joe Becraft was beginning to lag and 
 show signs of exhaustion. 
 
 " You d better have a drink of whiskey 
 to brace you up," he said. 
 
 "A milk shake will do the business," 
 Becraft replied. "It s too hot for whis 
 key. Maybe you d like a nip, though," he
 
 OFF FOB THE HOP-FIELDS 41 
 
 added, with a peculiar sidelong glance, 
 which the vagrant caught. It was as 
 though the younger man was surmising 
 what the elder s habits might be. 
 
 "Oh, no," Rossiter said, not betraying 
 the fact that he noticed Becraft s scrutiny, 
 "I m not much on whiskey myself. I like 
 a little beer now and again, however." 
 
 "Yes, beer ain t bad, but the shake is 
 what I need now. I feel a bit empty." 
 
 They stopped at a drug store upon the 
 corner above the saloon where Eossiter 
 had refreshed himself the previous night. 
 A prescription clerk who was bending ob 
 sequiously over a glass case listening to 
 the wants of two ladies, gave a frowning 
 start as he descried the bedraggled trio, 
 and half opened his lips as though to bid 
 them be gone. He appeared to take a 
 second thought, however, and unrebuffed 
 the three approached the sign-embellished 
 soda-fountain, behind which a spruce 
 youth stood grinning. 
 
 "We ve had an outside wettin ," an 
 nounced Joe Becraft to the dispenser of 
 drinks, nodding at Eossiter, "an we d like 
 to balance off matters by havin something 
 inside. What s yours! and yours, Jim?"
 
 42 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 "We d better follow your brother s ex 
 ample, hadn t we?" asked Eossiter, ap 
 pealing to the younger Becraft. 
 
 "Yes, a shake s all right," replied Jim. 
 
 The youth of the soda fountain, with a 
 series of flourishes, deeming he had those 
 before him whom he could impress with 
 his dexterity, proceeded to mix the desired 
 beverage, which all three drank through 
 gelatinous-looking tubes in lieu of straws. 
 
 "That s pleasanter an the drink I had 
 down yonder, remarked Joe Becraft as he 
 finished, a merry glint leaping into his eyes. 
 
 Presently they stood again upon the 
 sidewalk together. 
 
 "My mother s waitin at the Mansion 
 Hotel," said the elder Becraft. "That s 
 where the hop-wagon s to come for us 
 about two o clock. Now before we go up, 
 for we want you to come along with us, 
 I ve got something to propose. You ll 
 take it all right, won t you?" 
 
 "Perhaps I know what it is," answered 
 Kossiter, for several times he had seen 
 Becraft furtively regarding his hair and 
 beard. 
 
 "Do you?" 
 
 "I can guess."
 
 OFF FOR THE HOP-FIELDS 43 
 
 "Well, if that s the case, you ain t 
 a-goin to mind, are you? You can pay 
 me back, you know." 
 
 "You ll trust me to pay you back, 
 then?" 
 
 "Trust you to? Why, of course I will. 
 You ll pay me if you ve got anything to 
 pay with, an you ll have it all right after 
 a little." 
 
 "I don t believe there are many who 
 would take your view of it. 
 
 "P raps not, for, to tell the truth, you 
 ain t what the boys would call a swell. 
 But a shave an a hair-cut 11 make a sight 
 of difference. I know of a place close by 
 where we ll go. A chap from our town 
 keeps it." 
 
 As they turned from the main thorough 
 fare, which was called Keneseo Street, a 
 puff of warm wind blew a cloud of dust in 
 their faces. 
 
 "Thunder!" ejaculated Joe Becraft, 
 "I ve swallowed enough nasty stuff for 
 one day. Do you know, he added, for a 
 fine city, this town has spells o bein 
 pretty dirty, though it s a blame sight 
 better n it used to be." 
 
 Rossiter was not posted in the matter
 
 44 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 of municipal street-cleaning, so he did not 
 reply to these observations. They had not 
 walked more than a block when they saw 
 a barber s striped pole, and entered a little 
 shop where a dapper young man, with 
 elaborately brushed hair and a not over- 
 clean white duck jacket, was making 
 change for a customer whom he had been 
 shaving. 
 
 " Hullo, Joe!" said this individual, 
 "what are you up to?" 
 
 "Oh, the mill s shut down for a few 
 weeks, an I m off hop-pickin with the 
 family," answered Becraft. "Friend of 
 mine, here," he continued, indicating Ros- 
 siter, l i wants you to fix him up. 
 
 The barber s attention was for the first 
 time directed to the companion of the Be 
 craft brothers. 
 
 "Say he began. 
 
 "No jollyin , now," interrupted Joe. 
 "He took an oath a while ago that he 
 wouldn t get a shave or a hair-cut till you 
 had a decent railway station in this pent- 
 up town of yours, but he s backed out." 
 
 The barber exploded in a guffaw. 
 
 "Lucky for him he has," he answered, 
 "unless he means to hire out to Barnum
 
 OFF FOB THE HOP- FIELDS 45 
 
 an Bailey or Buffalo Bill as the wild man 
 of Borneo." 
 
 "While Rossiter s locks were being 
 trimmed and his beard removed, Joe Be- 
 craft and his tonsorial friend kept their 
 tongues continually wagging, Joe also im 
 proving the opportunity to tidy himself 
 somewhat. The conversation between the 
 two had chiefly to do with the town of their 
 nativity and a certain portion of its in 
 habitants, and Rossiter listened with not 
 a little inward amusement, for each young 
 man had, in his way, a sense of broad 
 humor that flashed out in their comments 
 upon people. Finally the barber s task 
 was accomplished, and he removed the 
 soiled apron from Rossiter s neck with a 
 flourish and a, 
 
 "There you are, sir!" 
 
 "Gosh!" Joe Becraft exclaimed, "I 
 wouldn t believe you were the same fel 
 low." 
 
 The change in the vagabond s appear 
 ance was indeed great. His rather large, 
 clear-cut features showed to an advantage 
 without beard or mustache, and though 
 the lines of his chin indicated a lack of de 
 cision, one studying his face for the first
 
 46 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 time would have said that its possessor 
 was endowed with a strong individuality. 
 His deep brown eyes were laughing and 
 grave by turns. The discontent and bit 
 terness which showed in the expression of 
 his mouth were not to be seen habitually. 
 Dissipation had left no mark upon his 
 countenance, for although at times Bos- 
 siter had imbibed freely, he was very far 
 from being a drunkard ; indeed, he had no 
 special taste for liquor, and had fre 
 quently resorted to it not so much because 
 he craved it as because it took him out of 
 himself. 
 
 Becraft produced some silver and paid 
 his townsfellow. 
 
 "It s my treat to-day," he explained. 
 
 They now retraced their steps to Ken- 
 eseo Street, and followed this thorough 
 fare until they came to the elaborate lift- 
 bridge spanning the Ontario Canal. From 
 time to time Becraft regarded his new 
 friend speculatively. 
 
 "Say," he at length broke out, as the 
 three paused and leaned over the railing, 
 idly scanning a steam-packet that was 
 moored below, "you ve been used to a 
 different sort of life, haven t you?"
 
 OFF FOR THE HOP-FIELDS 47 
 
 Eossiter did not reply at once. 
 
 "Yes," lie said finally. 
 
 "Had an education, an all that?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I thought so. You don t talk like, 
 well, like most of the people I know." 
 
 "I m not aware of any difference." 
 
 "Oh, yes you are. That is, you would 
 be if you d stop to think about it." 
 
 "I got through thinking some time ago, 
 at least I so imagined until lately." 
 
 "You know, an educaton," said Becraft, 
 not heeding Eossiter s last remark, "is 
 something I m always wishin I had. It s 
 a great thing." 
 
 "I ve certainly not done very much 
 with mine," replied the wanderer. 
 
 "How d it happen?" 
 
 "It s hard to say. I don t doubt an 
 other you, for instance would have 
 profited by it, but as for me He ended 
 with an expressive shrug of his shoulders. 
 
 They continued to look at the steam- 
 packet for several minutes longer, and 
 then resumed their walk towards the Man 
 sion Hotel. 
 
 "Don t b lieve we d better say anythin 
 about my swimmin experience to Ma,
 
 48 A KNIGHT OF THE HIGHWAY 
 
 Jim," observed Joe Becraft, as they left 
 the main street for the narrower thor 
 oughfare where the hotel they sought was 
 situated. "Like as not she d have a blue 
 fit." 
 
 "Bet she would," replied Jim. 
 
 "She s pretty nervous about my health 
 sometimes," Joe explained. "You see, 
 father died o consumption." 
 
 "Why should you ever say anything to 
 her about it?" inquired Eossiter. "Cer 
 tainly, so far as I am aware, there s not 
 the slightest reason for your doing so." 
 
 "Oh, but I want her to know some day 
 what you did for me. I ll tell her about it 
 up in the hop-yard. She won t take on so 
 there. I mean, she won t give it to me 
 quite so strong about bein careless,, an 
 all that." 
 
 "Have it as you will," said Eossiter, 
 "but I should be rather better pleased if 
 you made no mention of it whatever. 
 
 "I m goin to introduce you," said Joe, 
 "as a friend who s done me a good turn. 
 That ll explain our fetchin you along." 
 
 Eossiter now descried in the distance 
 the staring letters MANSION HOTEL 
 above a large and rambling wooden build-
 
 OFF FOR THE HOP- FIELDS 49 
 
 ing, so he intimated that before lie met the 
 mother and sister of his companions he 
 would like to make a slight change in his 
 apparel. 
 
 "I ve got another shirt in here," he 
 said, displaying his bundle, "that looks 
 more presentable than the one I m wear 
 ing." 
 
 "Ma ain t over particular," said Joe, 
 but as Bossiter insisted, they turned up 
 at the side of the hotel and sought the 
 stables, where the vagrant made the de 
 sired alteration. He could but smile to 
 himself as he was effecting this, the ex 
 perience was so novel to him. It was 
 many a long day since he had given much 
 heed to what anyone thought of him. 
 
 The hotel stood upon a corner, and on 
 two sides of it there was a wide veranda, 
 at one end of which mother and daughter 
 were sitting. The girl was a plain, shy 
 miss of seventeen, while the mother 
 proved to be a woman of ample propor 
 tions, with a worn but kindly face which 
 showed that her path through life had 
 not been among the roses. Her manner 
 towards Eossiter was at first marked by 
 a decided reserve, but when her son ex-