“It’s no use,” he said. “Father can’t keep me in school any longer and it’s up to me to pitch in and help the family. I’m to start work tomorrow for a grocery company.”

“And you wanted to go to college!” exclaimed Frank. “It’s a shame, that’s what it is!”

“Can’t be helped,” replied Perry, with a grimace. “I can consider myself lucky I got this far. I guess I’ll have to give up all those ideas now and settle down to learn the grocery business. There’s one good thing about it⁠—I’ll have a chance to learn it from the ground up. I’m starting in the delivery department. Perhaps in about fifty years I’ll be head of the firm.”

“You’ll make good at whatever you tackle,” Joe assured him. “But I’m sorry you won’t be able to go through college as you wished. Don’t give up hope yet, Slim. You never know what may happen. Perhaps they’ll find the fellow who did rob Tower Mansion.”