I  felt  all  broke  up  that  you  went  away  thinking  I  had
a  character  when  I  was  just  a  hobo.  I  wanted  to  tell
you  what  I  was,  but  you  was  gone.  I  waited  for  you
day  after  day  in  that  park  and  hunted  all  over  Chicago
so  I  could  explain.  But  I  could  not  find  you  and  con-
cluded you  must  have  only  been  there  visiting.  So  I
thought  the  only  thing  left  was  for  me  to  try  and  be
what  you  thought  me.  I've  done  it  pretty  well.  The
thought  of  the  way  you  looked,  and  what  you  said,  has
meant  a  lot  to  me,  and  I'm  a  better  fellow  than  I  was
then,  with  plenty  of  room  yet  to  improve.  In  fact,
I  became  a  detective  so  that  I  might  travel  all  over  the
world  in  search  of  you."


434  THE  MAGNET


^'Are  you  Dick  Dade,  the  wonderful  detective  we
read  so  much  about?"  questioned  the  girL

"I'm  the  fellow,  but  not  so  veiy  wonderful."

**  How  strange  this  all  seems!  I  have  often  thought  of
the  brave  lad  in  the  park  and  wondered  if  ever  I  would
see  him  again.     I  wanted  to,  and  hoped  and  hoped."

"Oh,  did  you?    My,  but  that's  nice  I"

"Well,  that  is,  I  —  I  wondered  if  I  ever  would."

"Oh,  yes,  I  see.    Of  course.    You  wondered."

"How  tall  and  fine  you  have  grown,"  she  hastily
interposed,  anxious  to  divert  him  from  her  unpremedi-
tated frankness.  "I  never  should  have  known  you,
you  have  improved  so  much."

"Do  you  think  so?"  eagerly  questioned  Dade.
"  I  was  afraid  I  was  beginning  to  look  old  and  homely."
He  was  blushing  furiously  beneath  her  praise.
"Indeed,  you  do  not.    The  idea!".
