letter to his uncle.

DEAR UNCLE THOMAS:--I have devoted my whole time to the task which you
assigned me, and have met with very good success. I found the boy
uncommunicative, and had to exert all my ingenuity.

Of the accuracy of this and other statements, the reader will judge
for himself.

The boy has a mother and a younger brother. They depend for support
chiefly upon what he can earn, though the mother does a little sewing,
but that doesn't bring in much. They live in Green Street, near
Milwaukee Avenue. I have been there, and seen the house where they
reside. It is a humble place, but as good, I presume, as they can
afford. No doubt they are very poor, and have all they can do to make
both ends meet.

I have learned this much, but have had to work hard to do it. Of
course, I need not say that I shall spare no pains to meet your
expectations. If you should take me into your confidence, and give me
an idea of what more you wish to know, I feel sure that I can manage
to secure all needed information. Your dutiful nephew,

STEPHEN WEBB.

Thomas Browning, in his Milwaukee home, read this letter with
satisfaction.

He wrote briefly to his nephew:

"You have done well thus far, and I appreciate your zeal. Get the boy
to talking about his father, if you can. Let me hear anything he may
say on this subject. As to my motive, I suspect that Mr. Walton may
have been an early acquaintance of mine. If so, I may feel disposed to
do something for the family."

On his way to the Sherman House, the next morning, Luke witnessed
rather an exciting scene, in which his old friend, Tom Brooks, played
a prominent part.

There was a Chinese laundry on Milwaukee Avenue kept by a couple of
Chinamen who were peaceably disposed if not interfered with. But
several boys, headed by Tom Brooks, had repeatedly annoyed the
laundrymen, and excited their resentment.

On this particular morning Tom sent a stone crashing through the
window of Ah King. The latter had been on the watch, and, provoked
beyond self-control, rushed out into the street, wild with rage, and
pursued Tom with a flatiron in his hand.

"Help! help! murder!" exclaimed Tom, panic-stricken, running away as
fast as his legs would carry him.

But anger, excited by the broken window, lent wings to the Chinaman's
feet, and he gained rapidly upon the young aggressor.

CHAPTER XIV

LUKE HAS A COOL RECEPTION IN PRAIRIE AVENUE

Tom Brooks had reason to feel alarm