Gardner, the superintendent.

The gentleman's house was half a mile distant and fully a mile from the
shops.

Larry hurried thither. To his surprise, Belle, the superintendent's
daughter, came to the door. She was a sweet-faced girl, a year or two
older than Larry, although they had been in school together.

"I was just going out," she said, after greeting him, "and so I answered
your ring. Did you wish to see my father?"

"Yes, if you please," Larry answered.

"Then you will have to wait, and I don't know how long. It was time for
him to be here an hour ago, and he is usually punctual; but he hasn't
come."

She noticed, the troubled look on his face, and asked, a trifle
anxiously:

"Anything the matter, Larry?"

"I--I think not; but if he comes, you may tell him my errand. And I will
go back, and perhaps I may meet him."

Larry explained about the watchman's absence, and then, with a deepening
foreboding at his heart, he hurried back toward the immense buildings of
the Tioga Iron Company.