"Where"s that bottle of liniment I sent here," demanded the doctor.

Lin opened the closet door and handed out two bottles. One of them contained a few drops of an amber colored fluid. "This is the lotion I prescribed," said the doctor, and he poured a few drops of the liquid in the hollow of his hand. Rubbing his hands briskly he held both palms over his nostrils. Sniffing it he drew his hands back, his eyes watering. "There"s no turpentine in that mixture." He held his hands over Lin"s nostrils and triumphantly asked if she could detect the odor of turpentine. Lin admitted that it had no scent of turpentine. The doctor held his hands over Alfred"s face: "Where"s your turpentine?

You"re a good judge of turpentine and you work in it every day and cannot detect the odor of it from alcohol, wintergreen and chloroform."

The doctor laughed as he seldom laughed.

Calling the mother the doctor laughingly poked a great deal of fun at Lin: "I wouldn"t want Alfred or Lin to buy turpentine for me." He kept the fun going by reminding Alfred that Jeffries (the father"s compet.i.tor) was probably correct when he spread the report that the father used benzine in his paint instead of turpentine. This was a center shot at Alfred. The report had been circulated that his father used benzine to mix his paint with. During the war the price of turpentine was almost prohibitive and benzine was used by many painters.

It was not a good subst.i.tute and it was a common thing for one contractor to injure another by circulating the report that his compet.i.tor used benzine.

Raising himself up in bed Alfred stoutly reiterated that it was turpentine he smelled in the liniment.

Lin said: "Durned ef ye kin fool me in the smell uf enything; my snoot nevur lies. I not only smelt hit but ye kud taste hit."

The mother added her observations to Alfred"s and Lin"s insisting the room smelled as strongly of turpentine as though it had just been painted. "I was compelled to open the windows," she said.

The doctor could not combat the new evidence, it was too direct. "Well, if there was turpentine rubbed on this boy, Jack Beckley brought it here. Have you any turpentine in the house he could have gotten at?"

The mother and Lin both declared there was not a drop of turpentine in the house.

The doctor left with orders to continue the poultices.

Bindley called with his coat pockets full of green apples. Emptying the unmatured fruit on the bed, he cautioned Alfred to eat salt on them and they wouldn"t hurt him. Bindley was insulted when the green apples were thrown out by Lin, with the remark: "Huh! He"s got enough pizen in his sistum without loadin" him up with worms."

The turpentine story was detailed to the father with the benzine reflection, and he was hot under the collar. He sent Bindley forthwith to locate Jack Beckley and bring him to the house: "But don"t say one word to him about what we want him for."

The report had spread that Alfred was in a serious condition. Many were the callers and many the comments on the accident. Mrs. Todd said: "Well, I can"t understand why it was that the Livingston boy, who was the higher up and fell the farthest, escaped injury, and Alfred was hurt so badly. They say Livingston could have saved himself the fall. They say he risked his life to save Alfred. I can"t just understand how Alfred got hurt so badly; it seems like a visitation of Providence; you know Alfred has been so forward in his devilment with other folks."

Lin flared up as she answered: "An" I kan"t fur the life uf me figger out how Bindley fell so much higher down then Alfurd an" didn"t break his back. But judgin" by the terbakker juce he spilled on Alfurd afore he fell he mus" dropped his quid an" then fell on hit an" thet broke his fall."

There is no denying the fact that the accident made Bindley the hero and Alfred the goat. Peter Hunt said: "Bindley was prompted by that sense of duty one boy feels toward another. He held Alfred until he could hold no longer, and when strength gave out, he fell with Alfred. It was an act of heroism."

Peter said there were two bodies falling with equal velocity; if one had fallen on top of the other the concussion would not have been great.

Johnny Tunstall said of Alfred: "Huh! The munkey devil; ye kudn"t kill him with a hax."

George Fee expressed his sorrow thusly: "It"s a great pity they fell; I tole Susan so, for when they wus up in them swings they wus nearer Heavun un they"ll ever git again."

Aaron Todd pushed his whiskers over the garden fence, inquiring of Lin as to Alfred"s condition: "He"s purty badly hurt I fear," he began, and, with a tone that betokened anything but sympathy: "Hurt internally I reckon. He"ll hardly pull through ef he hes blood pizening; I never knowed anybody thet hed hit internally thet evur got up again."

"Oh, my!" and Lin pretended to be greatly surprised, "Oh, my, Alfurd"s all right. Why he"s up an" about. Ef you"re goin" out on a torch-lite percession soon ye"ll hear from him." Todd"s face clouded, pulling his whiskers over the fence into his own yard, muttered: "The luck of sum peepul beats h.e.l.l."

The doctor and Jack arrived. "What kind of liniment did you apply to Alfred"s bruises?" sternly demanded the doctor.

"I dunno," quietly answered Jack, "your liniment I reckon."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "And Thar"s the Very Bottle"]

"Was there turpentine in the liniment you used?" continued the doctor, not regarding Jack"s reply.

"Well I should say; hit nearly burnt my han" off, hit tuk all the skin off twixt the fingers; my han" wus jus" like when I hed the itch. I"ve been greasin" hit with hog"s lard an" elder bark ever since," and Jack pulled his hand out of his pocket and held it up to the doctor"s view.

The doctor bent over the hand; it was discolored with small blackish spots. "Where did you get the liniment; did you bring it with you?" more sternly demanded the doctor.

"No, sir, I didn"t bring hit with me," somewhat impudently answered Jack, "I"m no hopathekary; I got the liniment right thar," pointing to the closet door, "an" thar"s the very bottle," continued Jack as he opened the closet door.

Taking the large bottle off the shelf with both hands he pa.s.sed it to the doctor who shook and uncorked it. As he was in the act of smelling it the father entered the room. Turning toward him the doctor, with his nose still at the neck of the bottle, inquired: "John, where did you get this stuff, this liniment?"

"Liniment?" the father repeated, as he reached for the bottle.

"Liniment? Why, doc, that"s not liniment. Who said it was? Why, I"ve been experimenting with that stuff nearly a year. That"s not liniment, thet"s walnut stain; I can stain anything to resemble walnut. We--"

The remainder of the father"s recommendation was lost in the laugh.

Alfred kicked the bedclothes over the headboard; the women-folks ran, the doctor did not remain to see Jack remove the mortification from Alfred"s body.

When Jack had scrubbed, rinsed and dried the supposedly affected portion of Alfred"s anatomy, he a.s.sured him the black and blue color had been supplanted by a redness of the skin that was remarkable. "Hit"s es red es scarlet," was Jack"s comparison.

"Well for Heavens" sake, Jack, keep it quiet or they"ll be doctoring me for scarlet fever," cautioned Alfred.

As the doctor walked up the path toward the front gate Lin shouted after him: "Doctur, ye kin tell ole Jeffres thet John uses turpentine in his liniment ef he don"t in his paints."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Thank G.o.d for the man who is cheerful, In spite of life"s troubles, I say; Who sings of a brighter tomorrow Because of the clouds today.

Then came a letter--whatever you may be, your parents were probably more so about the same age; but the world is wiser now than then, the boy world at least. The writer had heard of Alfred and his wonderful talents; he was organizing a minstrel show and would like to negotiate with him. The new organization would be one of the most complete in the country; it would be an honor to anyone to be connected with it.

Benedict would head the company.

Duprez and Benedict"s was one of the leading minstrel companies of the period. How was Alfred to know the Benedict who was to head the new show was not Lew Benedict?

Alfred engaged with the Great Benedict Minstrels. Rehearsals were called for 10 a. m. daily, but were generally called off until 3 p. m., by which time the princ.i.p.als were in such a jolly mood they did not require rehearsals; they felt funny enough to entertain royalty.

The manager, or more properly, the angel, for angel he was, seemed more desirous of making a reputation in bar rooms than with his show.

Alfred learned the minstrels were being organized to invade the oil regions where money grew on derricks. After subduing the oil territory the angel was supposed to become so favorably impressed with the possibilities of the enterprise, augmenting the company, he would treat the larger cities to a sight of the mighty monarch of the minstrel world.

Doctor McClintock and wife lived near Rouseville, Pa. Childless, they adopted a boy, John W. Steele. Prior to the discovery of coal oil, the worn out fields of that locality were valueless. Now broad acres were as valuable as the diamond fields of South Africa. Never in the wildest days of the gold excitement in California was money more rapidly acc.u.mulated or squandered than in the oil regions of Pennsylvania.

Johnny Steele fell heir to all the lands of Dr. McClintock. Wealth rolled in upon him; he entered upon a career of extravagance. He spent thousands of dollars daily, he literally cast money to the winds. His notoriety spread to the furthermost limits of the country; the daily papers, the weeklies, the monthlies printed exaggerated accounts of his profligacy.

Skiff and g.a.y.l.o.r.d"s Minstrels crossed the path of "Coal Oil Johnny," as Steele had been dubbed. Lew g.a.y.l.o.r.d made a great ado over the spendthrift. Steele accompanied the minstrels for a few days; their pathway was one wide streak of hilarity. When hotel men complained of the boisterous behavior of Steele the coal oil spendthrift bought the hotel for their stay.

"Coal Oil Johnny" was the sensation of the day. He bought the minstrel boys hats, coats, shoes, trunks and that most coveted minstrel decoration, a diamond.

The minstrels flourished for a few months. The public rebuked the unenviable notoriety of "Coal Oil Johnny." The minstrels steadily declined. "Coal Oil Johnny" went down with them. His money gone, he was made treasurer of the troupe his prodigality had ruined. When the ending came there was none so poor as he. Hotels where he had spent thousands, refused him even a night"s lodging. He went back to the farm; the acres he had cultivated were covered with oil derricks; the friends he knew had departed; he was almost a stranger save for the notoriety he had acquired. Unabashed he seemed to take a pride in the spendthrift race he had run. He drove a baggage wagon; afterwards he became the baggage master at the depot in Rouseville.