"Ah saw Carew's driver stopping at Jake's when we drove by, Simms,"
said Mr. Brewster at this moment.
"If you-all can find Jake, that will be the way to arrive--take a
reserved seat beside him,"' chuckled Simms.
The youth was shy before so many pretty girls, so he took off his cap
to acknowledge the obligation, and would have backed away had not Simms
asked a very strange question.
"Young man, you look exactly like an old friend I knew in these parts,
some years back. So like, that I must ask you your name."
The stranger flushed and stammered: "I am Kenneth Evans, from New
York."
Simms frowned when he heard the name and turned to Sam Brewster: "Did
you ever see anything to beat that likeness to the man we were just
talking about?"
Polly had noticed the resemblance as did her father, but nothing more
was said at that time, as so much remained to be attended to before the
ride on the morrow.
"Well, Boy, be sure to drop in and have a talk with me the next time
you are in town. My friend was from your way, too, and who knows but
we-all can hook up a relationship, eh?" said Simms, holding out his
hand to young Evans.
"I'll be glad to do that," responded Kenneth, heartily.
Mrs. Brewster's kindly heart was touched by the utter forlornness
expressed in the youth's face when he heard how far away the surveyor's
camp was located, so she addressed him directly.
"Did you want to reach Carew to-night, or can you come home with us and
get a fresh start for camp, in the morning?"
"I was supposed to report to Carew yesterday, but I lost the train at
Chicago, and that made me late all along the line of train-
connections," explained young Evans, smiling more cheerfully.
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