home," was
his thought, as he hurried along the narrow street which led to his
dwelling.

But again he was disappointed. His dinner was ready when he came in, but
Mrs. Kendall only sat at the table in silence and attended to his wants.

Larry felt as though he could not restrain the growing feeling of
apprehension caused by his mother's looks and strange reticence. They
were so unlike her usual cheerfulness when he came home from school or
the shop, and he could see that she had grown yet paler than when he
left her at the breakfast table in the morning.

He had only a few minutes before he must return to the shop. Yet he
lingered at the door, cap in hand.

"Mother, what is it?" he pleaded, as she glanced toward him.

"Don't ask me now, Larry," she answered.

Yet there was an irresolute quiver in her voice that told him that she
longed to give him her confidence.

"I ought to know," he persisted. "I'm old enough to run the engine at
the works. Surely you and father ought to trust me to know what troubles
you. Father has gone?"

"Yes, Larry."

"When is he coming back?"

"I don't know. He doesn't know himself. But I hope it will not be long
before we see him again."

"The superintendent will ask me about it, and I don't like to act as if
my folks didn't trust me. If you can't trust me, he won't wish to."

"Your father told you what to answer if you are questioned."

"Mr. Gardner may be satisfied with that for a day or two, but if he
stays away longer than that--"

"Well, well!" Mrs. Kendall interrupted, so impatiently that Larry was
silenced. "If he stays more than a day or two, and they want to know
more about it we'll see what can be done. Now hurry along, dear, and
don't worry."

She reached up her lips and kissed him--for he was much the taller--and
then he hurried back to the shop with a heavy heart.

As he entered the yard, he noticed a knot of the workmen near the
entrance, holding what appeared to be a very secret conference.

CHAPTER III.

Larry in a Quandary.

What lent the air of secrecy to the conference of the workmen was the
fact that they suddenly dispersed with significant winks and nods as
Larry approached.

Another suspicious circumstance was the fact that all, or nearly all,
were hands who had been employed in the works only a few months.

Early in the previous spring fifty or sixty of the Tioga Iron Company's
hands had gone out on a strike, and were promptly discharged, an