crab.

"Why, I'm Jimmy's partner."

"Yes, but what--what is your name?"

"Well, Jimmy calls me Dick Box. My first name is Dick, but I have
forgotten my other."

"Yes, yes! I know. You're Dick Box. At least, that's what Jimmy
calls you. But--yes, it must be--yet I had better make certain before
I tell him," and these last words Mr. Crosscrab murmured in a low voice.

Dick did not know what to make of the man's manner.

"What is it?" he asked. "What is the matter?"

"I wish I had known this before I went to Vermont," went on Mr.
Crosscrab, speaking to himself. "Yet it must be the same one. But how
could he be here when he's supposed to be in Chicago?"

Dick began to be a little alarmed. He thought perhaps Mr. Crosscrab
might be a little insane. He wished Jimmy would come in.

"Can't you remember your other name?" asked the visitor. "Try--try
very hard."

"I have tried--every day, but it's no use."

"Do you know where you came from?"

"No. All I can remember is a large house with lots of ground about it,
and a man and woman who were kind to me. Oh, Mr. Crosscrab, do you
know anything about me? Do you know who I am? Tell me, please, if you
do!"

"I am not sure, yet you look exactly the same. Tell me, can you
remember anything about the house where you used to live?"

Dick puzzled his brain. Strange shadows seemed to flit past him, yet
they meant nothing.

"Can you recall a little brook that used to run in front of the house,
across the road, and a little rustic bridge that spanned it?" asked Mr.
Crosscrab.

"Yes! Yes!" cried Dick eagerly. "I begin to remember now. Help me,
please do!"

At that instant the door opened and Jimmy entered. He looked in
surprise at Mr. Crosscrab, and then Dick's manner showed him something
unusual was taking place.

"What is the matter, Dick?" he asked. "Are you sick again?"

"No, but Mr. Crosscrab thinks he knows who I am. He is trying to help
me remember."

"I am not sure," replied the visitor in answer to Jimmy's look. "This
is the first time I have seen your partner, and I do not want to raise
false hopes. Yet he may be a certain boy of whom I heard on my recent
visit to my home in Vermont."

"Who is he?" asked Jimmy.

"Perhaps I had better tell you the story," suggested Mr. Crosscrab.
"Then we can decide what to do. But don't be disappointed if, after
all, the secret of Dick Box is still unsolved."

"Oh, I hope I can find out who I a