Harry has come back."

"So he has, Heaven bless him!" said the coachman, heartily. "How do you
do, Master Harry?"

"I'm pooty well," answered the little boy.

"Where did you find him, ma'am, if I may be so bold?"

"This young gentleman brought him back, Edward. Now, drive right home."

"Won't you go around to the office, ma'am, and tell master?"

"No; he must have left the office by this time. We shall see him at
supper to-night."

Half an hour later the carriage drew up in front of a handsome
residence, far enough from the centre of the city to have a side yard of
considerable dimensions, in the rear of which stood a brick stable. It
was clear that Mr. Fitch was a man of wealth, so Jasper decided.

Of the sensation produced in the house by Harry's arrival I will not
speak. Jasper found himself regarded in the light of the heroic
deliverer of the little boy from captivity, though he laughingly
disclaimed the credit attaching to such a character.

They had been home but fifteen minutes when Mr. Fitch arrived. At the
moment of his arrival Jasper was in a handsome chamber on the second
floor, which had been assigned to his use, preparing himself for dinner.
Mr. Fitch was overjoyed at the recovery of his little boy, but he
listened with some incredulity to the praises lavished upon Jasper by
his wife.

"You don't seem to realize," he said, "that this young hero of yours is
a companion and acknowledged agent of a kidnapper."

"Wait till you see him," said Mrs. Fitch, confidently.

Mr. Fitch shrugged his shoulders.

"How the women are carried away by a specious appearance!" he thought.
"I am a man of the world, and cooler in my judgment."

Yet when Jasper entered the room he could not help acknowledging that
his appearance was very much in his favor. Frank and manly in his looks,
he met Mr. Fitch with gentlemanly ease.

"You are the young gentleman who brought back my little boy, I believe,"
said the father.

"Yes, sir," said Jasper. "I occupy, for the time being, the office of
agent of the man who kidnapped him."

"Who is this man?"

"I should be willing to tell you if I had not promised secrecy."

"Then," said Mr. Fitch, with slight suspicion, "you are in confidential
relations with this villain."

"Partly so, but it was forced upon me. I never met him till to-day, and
he confided in me because there seemed to be no one else that he could
trust."

"Why did he not come himself?"

"Because he tho