told us to tell you to come back, no matter what had happened."
"Have you seen my mother?" asked the boy, his eyes filling with tears. "Did she send you to find me?"
"Then you are William Perry!" exclaimed Bart. "You guessed it, Frank!"
"We saw your mother Thanksgiving day," went on Frank. "We were able to help her. We found her cabin just in the nick of time, for we were caught in a blizzard. So we have only paid back, in a measure, what she did for us."
"Yes, I am William Perry," the boy admitted, and now he made no effort to conceal his tears. "It's the first time I've used my name, though, in many months. My poor mother! Yes, I will go back to her. I'd go now, only—"
"Don't let the money part worry you," said Fenn eagerly. "We'll lend you some."
"I've made a big failure of it all," William went on. "I ought not to go home."
"The more reason why you should," interrupted Frank.
Then the waif told them his story. He had started off to go to sea, in order to earn money for his mother. But he only got as far as Boston. Then, unable to stand the hard work he deserted
