Chapter XIII

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

　　Of course, as soon as the story of Lord Fauntleroy and thedifficulties of the Earl of Dorincourt were discussed in theEnglish newspapers, they were discussed in the Americannewspapers. The story was too interesting to be passed overlightly, and it was talked of a great deal. There were so manyversions of it that it would have been an edifying thing to buyall the papers and compare them. Mr. Hobbs read so much about itthat he became quite bewildered. One paper described his youngfriend Cedric as an infant in arms,--another as a young man atOxford, winning all the honors, and distinguishing himself bywriting Greek poems; one said he was engaged to a young lady ofgreat beauty, who was the daughter of a duke; another said he hadjust been married; the only thing, in fact, which was not saidwas that he was a little boy between seven and eight, withhandsome legs and curly hair. One said he was no relation to theEarl of Dorincourt at all, but was a small impostor who had soldnewspapers and slept in the streets of New York before his motherimposed upon the family lawyer, who came to America to look forthe Earl's heir. Then came the descriptions of the new LordFauntleroy and his mother. Sometimes she was a gypsy, sometimesan actress, sometimes a beautiful Spaniard; but it was alwaysagreed that the Earl of Dorincourt was her deadly enemy, andwould not acknowledge her son as his heir if he could help it,and as there seemed to be some slight flaw in the papers she hadproduced, it was expected that there would be a long trial, whichwould be far more interesting than anything ever carried intocourt before. Mr. Hobbs used to read the papers until his headwas in a whirl, and in the evening he and Dick would talk it allover. They found out what an important personage an Earl ofDorincourt was, and what a magnificent income he possessed, andhow many estates he owned, and how stately and beautiful was theCastle in which he lived; and the more they learned, the moreexcited they became."Seems like somethin' orter be done," said Mr. Hobbs. "Thingslike them orter be held on to--earls or no earls."But there really was nothing they could do but each write aletter to Cedric, containing assurances of their friendship andsympathy. They wrote those letters as soon as they could afterreceiving the news; and after having written them, they handedthem over to each other to be read.This is what Mr. Hobbs read in Dick's letter:"Dere Frend: i got ure letter an Mr. Hobbs got his an we aresory u are down on ure luck an we say hold on as longs u kin andont let no one git ahed of u. There is a lot of ole theves wilmake al they kin of u ef u dont kepe ure i skined. But this ismosly to say that ive not forgot wot u did fur me an if thereaint no better way cum over here an go in pardners with me.Biznes is fine an ile see no harm cums to u Enny big feler thattrise to cum it over u wil hafter setle it fust with PerfessorDick TiptonSo no more at present"Dick."And this was what Dick read in Mr. Hobbs's letter:"Dear Sir: Yrs received and wd say things looks bad. I believeits a put up job and them thats done it ought to be looked aftersharp. And what I write to say is two things. Im going to lookthis thing up. Keep quiet and Ill see a lawyer and do all I canAnd if the worst happens and them earls is too many for us theresa partnership in the grocery business ready for you when yure oldenough and a home and a friend i"Yrs truly,"Silas Hobbs.""Well," said Mr. Hobbs, "he's pervided for between us, if heaint a earl.""So he is," said Dick. "I'd ha' stood by him. Blest if Ididn't like that little feller fust-rate."The very next morning, one of Dick's customers was rathersurprised. He was a young lawyer just beginning practice--aspoor as a very young lawyer can possibly be, but a bright,energetic young fellow, with sharp wit and a good temper. He hada shabby office near Dick's stand, and every morning Dick blackedhis boots for him, and quite often they were not exactlywater-tight, but he always had a friendly word or a joke forDick.That particular morning, when he put his foot on the rest, he hadan illustrated paper in his hand--an enterprising paper, withpictures in it of conspicuous people and things. He had justfinished looking it over, and when the last boot was polished, hehanded it over to the boy."Here's a paper for you, Dick," he said; "you can look it overwhen you drop in at Delmonico's for your breakfast. Picture ofan English castle in it, and an English earl's daughter-in-law.Fine young woman, too,--lots of hair,--though she seems to beraising rather a row. You ought to become familiar with thenobility and gentry, Dick. Begin on the Right Honorable the Earlof Dorincourt and Lady Fauntleroy. Hello! I say, what's thematter?"The pictures he spoke of were on the front page, and Dick wasstaring at one of them with his eyes and mouth open, and hissharp face almost pale with excitement."What's to pay, Dick?" said the young man. "What hasparalyzed you?"Dick really did look as if something tremendous had happened. Hepointed to the picture, under which was written:"Mother of Claimant (Lady Fauntleroy)."It was the picture of a handsome woman, with large eyes and heavybraids of black hair wound around her head."Her!" said Dick. "My, I know her better 'n I know you!"The young man began to laugh."Where did you meet her, Dick?" he said. "At Newport? Orwhen you ran over to Paris the last time?"Dick actually forgot to grin. He began to gather his brushes andthings together, as if he had something to do which would put anend to his business for the present."Never mind," he said. "I know her! An I've struck work forthis mornin'."And in less than five minutes from that time he was tearingthrough the streets on his way to Mr. Hobbs and the corner store.Mr. Hobbs could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses whenhe looked across the counter and saw Dick rush in with the paperin his hand. The boy was out of breath with running; so much outof breath, in fact, that he could scarcely speak as he threw thepaper down on the counter."Hello!" exclaimed Mr. Hobbs. "Hello! What you got there?""Look at it!" panted Dick. "Look at that woman in thepicture! That's what you look at! She aint no 'ristocrat, sheaint!" with withering scorn. "She's no lord's wife. You mayeat me, if it aint Minna--Minna! I'd know her anywheres, an' so'd Ben. Jest ax him."Mr. Hobbs dropped into his seat."I knowed it was a put-up job," he said. "I knowed it; andthey done it on account o' him bein' a 'Merican!""Done it!" cried Dick, with disgust. "She done it, that's whodone it. She was allers up to her tricks; an' I'll tell yer wotcome to me, the minnit I saw her pictur. There was one o' thempapers we saw had a letter in it that said somethin' 'bout herboy, an' it said he had a scar on his chin. Put them twotogether--her 'n' that there scar! Why, that there boy o' hersaint no more a lord than I am! It's Ben's boy,--the little chapshe hit when she let fly that plate at me."Professor Dick Tipton had always been a sharp boy, and earninghis living in the streets of a big city had made him stillsharper. He had learned to keep his eyes open and his wits abouthim, and it must be confessed he enjoyed immensely the excitementand impatience of that moment. If little Lord Fauntleroy couldonly have looked into the store that morning, he would certainlyhave been interested, even if all the discussion and plans hadbeen intended to decide the fate of some other boy than himself.Mr. Hobbs was almost overwhelmed by his sense of responsibility,and Dick was all alive and full of energy. He began to write aletter to Ben, and he cut out the picture and inclosed it to him,and Mr. Hobbs wrote a letter to Cedric and one to the Earl. Theywere in the midst of this letter-writing when a new idea came toDick."Say," he said, "the feller that give me the paper, he's alawyer. Let's ax him what we'd better do. Lawyers knows itall."Mr. Hobbs was immensely impressed by this suggestion and Dick'sbusiness capacity."That's so!" he replied. "This here calls for lawyers."And leaving the store in the care of a substitute, he struggledinto his coat and marched down-town with Dick, and the twopresented themselves with their romantic story in Mr. Harrison'soffice, much to that young man's astonishment.If he had not been a very young lawyer, with a very enterprisingmind and a great deal of spare time on his hands, he might nothave been so readily interested in what they had to say, for itall certainly sounded very wild and queer; but he chanced to wantsomething to do very much, and he chanced to know Dick, and Dickchanced to say his say in a very sharp, telling sort of way."And," said Mr. Hobbs, "say what your time's worth a' hour andlook into this thing thorough, and I'll pay the damage,--SilasHobbs, corner of Blank street, Vegetables and Fancy Groceries.""Well," said Mr. Harrison, "it will be a big thing if it turnsout all right, and it will be almost as big a thing for me as forLord Fauntleroy; and, at any rate, no harm can be done byinvestigating. It appears there has been some dubiousness aboutthe child. The woman contradicted herself in some of herstatements about his age, and aroused suspicion. The firstpersons to be written to are Dick's brother and the Earl ofDorincourt's family lawyer."And actually, before the sun went down, two letters had beenwritten and sent in two different directions--one speeding out ofNew York harbor on a mail steamer on its way to England, and theother on a train carrying letters and passengers bound forCalifornia. And the first was addressed to T. Havisham, Esq.,and the second to Benjamin Tipton.And after the store was closed that evening, Mr. Hobbs and Dicksat in the back-room and talked together until midnight.