“Yes, who could have done it?” repeated Wentworth with another sneer.
“I will trouble you to speak in a different tone,” said Gerald with quiet dignity. “My father and I are poor enough, but no one ever charged us with dishonesty.”
Mr. Lane, awakening from sleep, heard the last words.
“What is the matter? What has happened?” he asked dreamily.
“Mr. Wentworth misses his pocketbook, father,” exclaimed Gerald.
“How much money was there in your wallet, Bradley?” asked the sick man.
“Nearly two hundred dollars.”
“That is a great deal of money to lose. You are sure it was in your pocket when you went to bed?”
“Yes, I felt it there.”
“Some one must have got into the cabin during the night.”
“But the door was locked,” said Wentworth.
“True, but there is a window near your bed. There was no fastening, and it could be raised easily. And that reminds me,” he continued with a sudden thought, “I waked up during the night, that is I partially awakened, and thought I saw a figure near your bed in a stooping position. It must have been the thief going through your pockets.”
“Why didn’t you speak, father?”
“Because I was more asleep than awake, and my mind was too torpid to reason upon what I saw.”
“Did the figure remind you of anyone, father? What was it like?”
“A man of medium height, stout and broad-shouldered.”
Bradley Wentworth started, and a sudden conviction flashed upon him. The description tallied exactly with Jake Amsden, the man with whom he had had a conference the day before.
“Is there any such person who lives near by?” he asked.
“Yes, a worthless, dissipated fellow named Jake Amsden.”
“I think I caught sight of him yesterday during my walk. Is his hair red?”
“Yes. Did you speak to him?”
“I spoke to him,” said Wentworth evasively, for he did not care to mention the subject of their conversation.
“Did he know where you were staying?”
“I believe I mentioned it.”
“And from your appearance doubtless he concluded that you had money.”
“Possibly. Has he ever stolen anything from you?”
“I am too poor to attract burglars. Besides, theft in this neighborhood is a serious offense. Only last year a man living five miles away was lynched for stealing a horse.”
“This is an awkward loss for me,” said Wentworth. “If I were at home I could step into a bank and get all the money I wanted. Here it is different.”
“Have you no money left? Did the wallet contain all you had?”
“I have some besides in an inside pocket, but not as much as I may have occasion to use. Is there any hope of recovering the wallet from this man – that is, provided he has taken it?”
“After breakfast I will go with you,” said Gerald, “and see if we can find Jake Amsden. If we do we will make him give up the money.”
“But will it be safe? He looks like a rough character.”
“So he is; but the two of us ought to be more than a match for him.”
“I have no arms.”
“I will lend you my father’s pistol, and I have one of my own.”
Gerald spoke so calmly, and seemed so cool and courageous that Wentworth gave him a look of admiration.
“That boy has more in him than I thought. He is no milk-and-water youth as his father probably was.
“Very well,” he said aloud. “I will accept your offer – that is, after breakfast. I am afraid I shouldn’t muster up courage enough to meet this rough fellow on an empty stomach. I don’t feel like giving up such a sum of money without a struggle to recover it. Do you know Amsden?”
“Yes; he has been in this vicinity almost as long as we have.”
“Are you on friendly terms?”
“We are not unfriendly, but he is not a man that I cared to be intimate with.”
“Will he be likely to leave the neighborhood with his booty?” asked Wentworth anxiously.
“No; he is not a coward, and will stay. Besides, he probably thinks that he has covered his tracks, and will not be suspected.”
Breakfast was prepared and eaten. As they rose from the table Gerald said: “Now, Mr. Wentworth, I am at your service.”
They took their way partly through woods till they reached the poor cabin occupied by Jake Amsden. The door was open and they looked in. But there was no sign of the occupant.
“He is gone!” said Wentworth, in accents that betrayed his disappointment.
“I didn’t much expect he would be here,” said Gerald.
“Have you any idea where he is?”
“Yes; he is very fond of whisky, and there is a place at the foot of the hill where drink can be obtained. It is kept by a negro, a man of bad reputation.”
“Then let us go there. There is no time to be lost,” said Wentworth, anxiously.
As they walked along Wentworth broached the old subject of selling the cabin and the land attached.
“I think you make a mistake, Gerald,” he said, “in not selling me the cabin. Two hundred dollars would be very useful to you.”
“The place is worth more.”
“I offered you two hundred and fifty, and I stand by that offer.”
“I may desire to sell it some time, but not at present.”
“You don’t mean to remain here after your father dies?”
“Please don’t refer to that, Mr. Wentworth,” said Gerald with emotion. “I don’t want to think of it.”
“But you know he can’t recover.”
“I know it, but I don’t like to think of it.”
“This is only weakness. You ought to think of it, and be forming your plans.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Wentworth,” said Gerald with sad dignity, “but I cannot and will not speak of my father’s death at present. When God takes him from me it will be time to consider what I shall do.”
“Suit yourself,” said Bradley Wentworth stiffly, “but you must not forget that I am your father’s friend, and – ”
“Are you my father’s friend?” asked Gerald with a searching look.
“Of course I am,” answered Wentworth, coloring. “Hasn’t he told you we were young men together?”
“Yes, he has told me that.”
“Then you understand it. I am his friend and yours.”
“I am glad to hear it,” said Gerald gravely, “but there,” he added, pointing to a low, one-story frame building, “is the place where Jake Amsden probably came to buy liquor.”
Over the entrance was a large board on which was painted in rude characters:
CHAPTER VIII
FOILING A THIEF
Mr. Peter Johnson, the