Bound to be an Electrician/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III.
FRANKLIN GETS INTO A DIFFICULTY.
Mrs. Bell and the girls were surprised to learn that Franklin had obtained employment so easily, and when, later in the day, Mr. Bell was informed of it, he appeared well pleased.
"And I am to get six dollars a week," added the youth.
"Six dollars is quite good pay for a boy," said Mrs. Bell, who was in the sick-room.
"You will pay your aunt something, I hope," said Mr. Bell. "Now, I am not working—"
"The doctor says you must not talk too much," interposed Mrs. Bell. "And you must not worry."
"But the children, Martha," sighed the invalid.
"I intend to give all the money to Aunt Martha," said Franklin. "It is not much, but it will help some towards tiding over the time until you are well."
"Oh, Franklin, I did not expect your whole wages!" cried Mrs. Bell.
"But that is what you shall have, aunt. Come now, I won't have it any different—at least not while uncle is not able to work. You have always supported me since father died, and I owe it to you to do something."
And, afraid that he might be urged to give up his idea, Franklin arose and left the room.
"A worthy boy!" murmured Mr. Bell. "The amount is not large, and by close pinching we might have done without it, but it shows the proper spirit."
"It does, indeed, William," replied Mrs. Bell. "I trust he finds the work suitable. I imagine from now on electrical work will be much in demand."
"Yes, the openings are numerous, and the field is fresh. Franklin takes to it, and I hope from the bottom of my heart he makes a success of it."
Bright and early on the following morning, Franklin presented himself at Silas Fells' workshop. The old man had already arrived, and was placing a number of things in the push-cart, which he soon after directed should be taken over to Mr. Mace's residence.
Franklin took hold with a will. It was his first start in business, and he wished to make a good showing and thus please his employer.
The cart was pushed over through the snow to the Mace mansion, and then the two began to carry things into the house, and deposit them in the hallway.
While Franklin was outside and Mr. Fells in the mansion, the youth saw a man leave the place by a side gate, for the residence stood on a corner. The man was Andrew Gresson.
"Now, what can he be doing here?" thought Franklin. "I don't believe he knows any of the Maces."
He watched Gresson for a second, and then Mr. Fells called, and he went inside just as the discharged workman went up the street leading to the depot.
"I want you to take one of these alarms up to the front room up stairs," said Silas Fells. "Then take this wire and run it long the hallway to that bend where the stairs come down. I will be up in a few minutes."
"Yes, Sir."
Franklin wished to tell Silas Fells that he had seen Andrew Gresson about the house. But Mrs. Mace, a sharp, ill-natured woman, stood close at hand, and he decided to wait until they were alone.
He gathered up the articles Silas Fells had mentioned, and mounted the stairs with them. The room in the front was closed, and Franklin knocked before entering.
Receiving no answer he placed the things he was carrying on the floor and opened the door.
As he entered, a sudden gust of wind slammed the door shut. He was just about to open it again and bring in the alarm that was to be placed on the wall there, when something unusual about the room caused him to pause.
Hanging over the back of a chair in the middle of the room was a man's coat. On the chair rested a small square box, which was wide open. On the floor near the chair lay a bracelet and a diamond ring!
"Hullo, what does this mean?" he exclaimed.
Turning to the table he saw that the lamp was lit, although it was bright daylight in the room. He looked around, and in one corner of the apartment discovered a deep and dark closet, the door of which stood wide open.
"They probably lit the lamp to find something in the closet," thought Franklin. He picked up the jewelry and placed the bracelet on the table.
"It's a careless way to leave jewelry lying about," muttered the young electrician to himself, as he examined the diamond ring. "I thought Mrs. Mace looked like a more careful woman."
To all appearances the diamond ring was a valuable one, and after a look at it the youth placed both it and the bracelet on the jewel casket, for the box on the chair was nothing else.
Then Franklin opened the door and brought in the alarm. He was just about to set the clock-like machine on the table when a sudden thought flashed through his mind.
Could it be possible that Andrew Gresson had been up in that room?
Franklin stood stock still as the thought coursed through his brain. Somehow, he now wished he had told Mr. Fells that the discharged workman had been at the house.
Just then he heard the front door below close, and from the window he saw Silas Fells tramp down the street in the direction of the shop. The old man had forgotten certain connections to be used, and he did not wish to run the risk of sending Franklin after them, the youth not yet knowing where things were kept in the place.
Seeing there was nothing else to do, Franklin began work as he had been directed, and before long he became so absorbed that he forgot all about the jewel casket and its contents.
He placed the alarm in position on a bracket between the windows and made the connections with the sashes, and then began to run the wire through the hallway, as he had been told.
While he was at work just outside of the door of the front room, he heard steps on the stairs, and Mrs. Mace appeared.
"Well, how are you getting along, young man?" she asked, in a peculiar high pitch of voice.
"All right, ma'am," replied the youth.
"I want you and Mr. Fells to make a good job of this," continued the woman. "I don't intend to pay a high price for any botch work."
"Mr. Fells said the work was to be done in a first-class manner," returned Franklin.
"There are so many burglaries taking place, I declare a body ain't safe any more. I told Mr. Mace I wouldn't go another day without some protection for night time."
And with this remark Mrs. Mace walked through the hallway and down the back stairs.
"I wish I had told her about the jewel casket," thought Franklin after she was gone. "Perhaps it's all right, but it doesn't look so to me."
He finished laying out the wire, and then went below and waited for Silas Fells to return. But as the old man did not do so, Franklin finally set off for the shop to see what was the matter.
As he did so he met Mr. Mace, accompanied by a stranger.
He nodded to the two men, and was about to pass on when a cry from the upper window of the mansion caused him to come to a dead stop.
"Stop the thief! Stop the thief!"
It was Mrs. Mace's shrill voice, and it startled all three of those at the gate.
"What's that, Jane?" demanded Mr. Mace.
"Stop that boy, John!"
"What has he done?"
"Robbed the house!" replied Mrs. Mace. "Hold him! Don't let him escape!"
"I have robbed nobody," cried Franklin "I never stole a thing in my life."
"He did! He did!" insisted Mrs. Mace. "Hold him till I come down, John!"
She disappeared from the window, and a minute later came rushing out of the front door and down to where Franklin and the two men stood.
"Now what has he done, Jane?" demanded Mr. Mace once more.
"He has broken open my jewelry casket and taken two of my rings," gasped Mrs. Mace. She was all out of breath from her run down the stairs.
"I did not touch the casket," replied Franklin. "When I came into the room I found a diamond ring and a bracelet on the floor, and I placed them on the table; that was all."
"Humph! That's an odd story," muttered Mr. John Mace. "My wife is not in the habit of letting her jewels lie around so loosely."
"I can't help it," said Franklin, doggedly. "I have told you the truth of the matter."
"It isn't so," screamed Mrs. Mace, growing more excited every minute. "He took those two rings, I feel sure of it. John, send for a policeman at once and have him arrested."