"Welcome home, Mark!" exclaimed Mrs. Mason with radiant face as the telegraph boy opened the door of their humble apartment.
"Then you have missed me?" said Mark smiling.
"It has seemed a long time since you went away. Did you have a successful trip?"
"Yes, indeed. Mr. Swan was so well satisfied that he gave me fifteen dollars besides paying the telegraph company for my services. I shall be paid my regular wages by them also."
"Poor Mrs. Mack has been attacked and robbed of a hundred dollars since you went away."
"I read a paragraph about it copied from the New York papers. How is she now?"
"She is confined to her bed. The villain, whoever he was, nearly choked her, and the shock was so great that it quite prostrated her."
"Were you at home when the attack took place?"
"No; I had g
