"This has been a good day"s work all around," said Tom, who was in high spirits. "The next time there is any detective work to be done in this county, Bob and I will volunteer to do it. We can catch more criminals by sitting still and writing letters, than the officers can by bringing all their skill into play."
The sheriff laughed, and said that was the way the thing looked from where he sat.
"The fun is all over now," continued Tom, "and to-morrow we will go to work in earnest. You will be on hand, of course?"
Joe replied that he would.
"By-the-way," chimed in Bob, "did this robber of yours have a gun of any description in his hands when he was captured?"
"No."
"Then, Joe, you and I are just that much out of pocket. The guns are gone up."
"What has become of them?"
"They are out in the hills somewhere," answered Bob. "When the robbers made up their minds that they had better let me go, one of them had my gun and the other had yours; but the robber Brierly captured says that the weapon impeded his flight, and so he threw it away. Whereabouts he was in the hills when he got rid of it, he can"t tell. No doubt your gun was thrown away also, and the chances are not one in a thousand that we shall ever find them again."
While this conversation was going on, Silas Morgan, who stood at the foot of the steps that led to the porch, kept pulling Joe by the coat-sleeve, and whispering to him:
"Never mind the guns. Tell the sheriff that I"m powerful anxious to see the color of them twenty-five hundred."
Joe paid no sort of attention to him, and finally Silas became so very much in earnest in his endeavors to attract the boy"s notice, that the officer saw it; and when there was a little pause in the conversation, he said, carelessly:
"Oh, about the reward, Silas--"
"That"s the idee," replied the ferry-man, who thought sure that he was going to get it now. "That"s what I"m here for. You have got the bugglars in your own hands now, and I don"t reckon you would mind pa.s.sing it over, would you?"
"I?" exclaimed the sheriff. "I haven"t got it. I have never had a cent of it in my possession."
"Then who"s going to give it to me?" demanded Silas, who wondered if the officer was going to cheat him out of his money.
"Well, you see, Silas," said the sheriff, "the reward is conditioned upon the arrest and conviction of the burglars. They have been arrested, and their conviction is only a matter of time; but you can"t get your money until they are sentenced."
"And how long will that be?"
"The court will sit again in about six weeks. As some of the money was offered by the county, and the rest by the men who lost the jewelry and things that were found in that valise, you will get your reward from different parties, unless they hand it over to me to be paid to you in a lump."
"That"s the way I want it," said Silas, who was very much disappointed.
"I"m going into business."
"What sort of business?" inquired Mr. Warren.
"I am going to keep a boat-house down to the Beach."
"Well now, Silas, that"s the most sensible thing I have heard from you in a long time," said Mr. Warren. "I"ll rent you a piece of ground big enough for a garden, and you can set yourself up in business in good shape, build a nice house, and have money left in the bank. If you manage the thing rightly, you and Dan ought to make a good living of it."
"Who said anything about Dan?" exclaimed Silas.
"I did. Of course you can"t ignore him because you are wealthy. He wants a chance to earn an honest living, and he needs it, too. He"s a strong boy, a first-rate hand with a boat, knows all the best fishing-grounds on the lake, and would be just the fellow to send out with a party who wanted a guide and boatman. You can easily afford to pay him a dollar a day for such work as that."
"Well, I won"t do it," said Silas, promptly. "He"s a lazy, good-for-nothing scamp, Dan is, and I won"t take him into business along of me."
"But you will hire him, and give him a chance to quit breaking the game law and make an honest living," said the sheriff. "By-the-way, Silas, I guess you had better bring up those setters, and save me the trouble of going after them."
"What setters?" exclaimed Silas, who acted as if he were on the point of taking to his heels. "I ain"t got none. I took "em down to the hotel and give "em up."
"I am glad to hear it, because it will save me some trouble," replied the officer. "I have had my eyes on those dogs ever since you got hold of them, and I should have been after them long ago if I had known where to find the owner. Don"t do that again, Silas. Honesty is the best policy, every day in the week."
"If you will leave your business in my hands, I will attend to it for you, and you will not have to go to Hammondsport at all," continued Mr.
Warren.
And Joe was glad to hear him say it, because it showed him that the gentleman did not intend that his father should squander all his money, if he could help it.
"It is too late in the season for you to do anything with your boats this year, but I will give you and Dan a steady job at chopping wood, and if you take care of the money you earn, instead of spending it at Hobson"s bar, you can live well during the winter. If the reward is not paid over to you by the time spring opens, I will advance you enough to start you in business and build your house. Then I think you had better give Dan a chance."
"So do I," whispered Tom, to his friend Bob. "Dan has lived by his wits long enough, and if Silas doesn"t begin to take some interest in him, the sheriff will have a word or two to say about those setters. I can see plainly enough that he intends to hold that affair over Silas as a whip to make him behave himself."
"Do you think Silas will ever have the reward paid him in a lump?" asked Bob.
"No, I don"t, because he doesn"t know enough to take care of so much money. Joe can get his any time he wants it, for Mr. Warren knows that he will make every cent of it count."
Then, aloud, Tom said:
"Well, Bob, seeing that we"ve got to get up in the morning, we had better be going home. Come over bright and early, Joe, and we will take your things back to your cabin."
"And I will send up another supply of provisions," said Mr. Warren.
Joe thanked his employer, bade him good-night, and led the way out of the yard.
For a time he and his party walked along in silence, and then Silas, who began to have a vague idea that he had been imposed upon in some way, broke out, fiercely:
"What did old man Warren mean by saying that if I didn"t get all my money by the time spring comes, he would advance enough to set me up in business?" Silas almost shouted. "Looks to me like he"d "p"inted himself my guardeen, and that he means to keep a tight grip on them twenty-five hundred, so"t I can"t spend it to suit myself. That"s what I think he means to do, dog-gone the luck!"
Joe thought so, too, and he was glad of it. If that was Mr. Warren"s intention, Joe"s mother would be likely to reap some benefit from the reward; otherwise, she would not.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
EIGHT GOOD RIDDLES.
Feet have they, but they walk not--stoves.
Eyes have they, but they see not--potatoes.
Teeth have they, but they chew not--saws.