Although naturally burdened by the recent run of events, mystified as they were concerning the motives of McCarney and Hupft and of the lob-eared man whom Jim had seen hurrying from the half-finished structure the day the building material had been pushed from the scaffold, the chums stuck to their decisions to keep worry and conjecture as far as possible from their minds. Their job was to play ball, and to play ball with the best that was in them was what they intended to do.

And on one particular bright morning it was easier than usual to banish dull care. Only the day before Joe and Jim had received word that Mabel and Clara and Mabel’s brother, Reggie, would arrive in New York by noon of the following day. To say that the boys were joyful would be to describe too tamely their emotions. They acted like a couple of wild Indians, brandishing the letters aloft and executing a war dance about the room. Even now, as they jumped into the car, preparatory to making a mad dash for the station to meet the twelve o’clock train, they had not recovered their sanity.

To Joe it seemed as though he had been separated from his young wife for years instead of weeks, and he drove the machine through the traffic with a speed and recklessness that caused many a burly policeman to frown disapprovingly.

“It’s them young speeders that makes all the trouble,” muttered one of them as Joe, barely waiting for the wave of his hand, rushed by with a warning roar of the exhaust. “It’s long been a mystery to me why they must always be in such a terrible hurry.” How could he know, poor man, that Joe was on his way to meet the most adorable girl in all the world? Who wouldn’t break all the speed laws, and then some, for a girl like Mabel?

It had been the purpose of the young folks to settle down in a little home of their own after the honeymoon, but as Mrs. Matson, who had never been very strong, missed Mabel and declared she needed her, the young bride had decided to make her home temporarily with Joe’s mother—at least until such time as she should be in better health.

Clara, Joe’s pretty sister and Jim’s fiancée, had also delayed her wedding with Jim because of her mother’s ill-health. Jim did not favor this arrangement very highly, but he was willing to agree to almost anything that would make Clara happy.

“It won’t be so very long now,” she had said the last time Jim had seen her. “I really think mother is getting stronger, and pretty soon—we’ll be together always,” she had added shyly.

So now, not having seen either Mabel or Clara for what seemed to them a never-ending period of time, it was no wonder the boys were willing to break all the traffic laws that had ever been made.

“Do you know,” said Joe, with a chuckle, as he slowed down at the curb opposite the station, “I’ve scarcely given dear old Reggie a thought? I wonder how the old duffer is, anyway.”

“Probably identically the same old chappie,” laughed Jim. “Monocle, cane, spats, and all complete. I’d give a lot to know how he makes that knife-sharp crease in his trousers always stay put.”

“It is a mystery,” agreed Joe, as they made their way through the crowds that thronged the great station. “I’d like to try him out on the diamond some time. I’ve a notion that after a slide or two to the home plate the crease would be no longer there.”

“Might spoil some of his immaculateness,” laughed Jim.

Despite all this joking at his expense, the boys entertained, not only a warm affection, but a very real respect for Mabel’s brother, Reggie. Although, as the chums had already laughingly mentioned, Reggie never appeared anywhere without his monocle, his cane, his spats, and his English air and accent, he was at heart a fine fellow, always ready to help where help was needed, truthful and honorable, and an ardent baseball fan. These qualities helped the boys overlook his many foibles and affectations. As a matter of fact, once one got used to them, one rather liked them, as being a part of Reggie’s lovable personality.

The guard at the head of the stairs that led to the station platform seemed at first inclined to deny the boys admittance. But a neighboring guard, having recognized Joe and Jim, whispered in his friend’s ear, with the result that the latter looked away, having first favored the boys with a wink.

The next moment they had clattered down the stairs and had reached the station platform, just as the train pulled in.

Eagerly they watched the crowd of passengers pour forth, scanning each face for those they sought. No sight of Mabel, no Clara, no immaculate and be-spatted Reggie!

At first they feared that the girls had missed their train and their faces grew long and anxious. Then, just when they were beginning to lose hope, Joe saw them.

With a whoop of joy and a rush that nearly bowled over an indignant and grip-laden porter, he was speeding down the platform with Jim hard at his heels.

The next moment Mabel found herself in the grip of two bearlike arms, her smart little hat was pushed far over one ear, while into the other a voice was saying, over and over again:

“Say, girl, you look good to me—you look good to me.”

“Joe, dear, you’re mussing my hair, and my hat——”

“Hats!” cried Joe, exuberantly. “What do we care about hats! I’ll buy you another one, honey, a dozen, if you want them.”

“Be careful, Joe,” Clara broke in, looking flushed and delightfully pretty herself. “She may take you up. Think of it—a dozen new hats! Such joy!”

“Speakin’ of hats, don’t you know,” broke in a well-known voice, “I jolly well need a new one myself. The bally old thing did a double flip out of the hat rack on our trip up heah in the train. Turned an entire circle, don’t you know——”

“Tell them where it landed, Reggie,” chuckled Mabel, flashing a mischievous glance at Clara. “Be sure you don’t forget any of the details.”

“By Jove! Do you know,” said Reggie, ruefully, “you would never guess the truth, not in a thousand years, unless I were to tell it to you myself! For this mistaken headpiece, don’t you know, instead of falling to the floor, where at the most it would have gathered a little dust, must choose a seat whereon a burly gentleman was just in the act of seating himself. A perfectly harmless and natural thing, don’t you know, on the part of the old gentleman——”

“But hard on the hat,” finished Joe, with a grin, adding as he slipped his arm through Mabel’s and drew her toward the stairs: “Never mind, old man, there are a dozen places in town where they have hats that will satisfy even you. Say,” he added happily, looking down into the smiling eyes of his young wife, “this is my lucky day.”

“You’re not the only one, old son,” said Jim, adding, as he proudly piloted Clara through the throng: “I tell you, we’ve picked a couple of girls that will make these bored Manhattanites turn round and stare, all right.”

“Bah Jove,” sighed Reggie, replacing the tiresome monocle that never would stay put, “you chappies are enough to make a poor old bachelor like me homesick, you are, truly. I feel quite out of it, don’t you know, de trop, a gooseberry, as you might say. An Antony without his Cleopatra, a Romeo without his Juliet. I say, it’s downright pathetic.”

“Poor old Reggie,” chuckled Mabel, snuggling her free hand within his arm. “It is a sad, sad story, isn’t it? But then, it’s really your own fault. There are lots of girls in the world, you know.”

“But no more Mabels,” said Joe.

“And no more Claras,” added Jim.

“There you go again,” said poor Reggie, swinging his cane disconsolately. “Bah Jove, this is no place for a bachelor. It isn’t, truly!”