"Now go ahead, Blake, and end my suspense. I've seen for some time that you've been keeping something back from me. I don't know what it is, but it's something about my father. And I appreciate why you're doing it. You want to spare my feelings."
"That's it!" cried Blake, eagerly, glad of any chance to put off what he regarded as a most unpleasant duty. "It is for your sake, Joe, that I have been keeping silent, and I wish you would go on letting me do so. Believe me, if I thought it well for you to know I'd tell you."
"Is it—is it that he isn't my father, after all?" faltered the lad, following a silence in which all sound of pursuit had died away. The boys felt that they were safe now. "Do you mean to say, Blake, that this man whom I've traced after such hard work, isn't any relation to me—haven't I any folks, after all?"
"No, Joe, it isn't that at all. He's your father, as far as I know, and I will admit there is some secret about him. But I'd rather not tell you."
"I want to know it," insisted Joe, firmly.
"If you'll only wait," went on his chum, "it may all be explained when—when he comes back. Then there won't be any need of a secret. Better wait, Joe."
"No, I've got to hear it right away. If it's any
