"The first one?" he repeated, slowly. "Well, I"ll tell you, Jed.
The first one--and the queerest of all--is your findin" that four hundred dollars."
Jed was a good deal taken aback. He had not expected an answer of that kind. His embarra.s.sment and confusion returned.
"Why--why," he stammered, "is--is that funny, Sam? I don"t--I don"t know"s I get what you mean. What"s--what is there funny about my findin" that money?"
The captain stepped across the shop, pulled forward a chair and seated himself. Jed watched him anxiously.
"I--I don"t see anything very funny about my findin" that money, Sam," he said, again. Captain Sam grunted.
"Don"t you?" he asked. "Well, maybe my sense of humor"s gettin"
cross-eyed or--or somethin". I did think I could see somethin"
funny in it, but most likely I was mistaken. Sit down, Jed, and tell me all about how you found it."
Jed hesitated. His hand moved slowly across his chin.
"Well, now, Sam," he faltered, "there ain"t nothin" to tell. I just--er--found it, that"s all. . . . Say, you ain"t seen that new gull vane of mine lately, have you? I got her so she can flop her wings pretty good now."
"Hang the gull vane! I want to hear how you found that money.
Gracious king, man, you don"t expect I"m goin" to take the gettin"
back of four hundred dollars as cool as if "twas ten cents, do you?
Sit down and tell me about it."
So Jed sat, not with eagerness, but more as if he could think of no excuse for refusing. His companion tilted back in his chair, lit a cigar, and bade him heave ahead.
"Well," began Jed, "I--I--you see, Sam, I happened to look behind that heap of boards there and--"
"What made you think of lookin" behind those boards?"
"Eh? Why, nothin" "special. I just happened to look. That"s where your coat was, you know. So I looked and--and there "twas."
"I see. There "twas, eh? Where?"
"Why--why, behind the boards. I told you that, you know."
"Gracious king, course I know! You"ve told me that no less than ten times. But WHERE was it? On the boards? On the floor?"
"Eh? . . . Oh, . . . oh, seems to me "twas on the floor."
"Don"t you KNOW "twas on the floor?"
"Why . . . why, yes, sartin."
"Then what made you say "seems as if" it was there?"
"Oh, . . . oh, I don"t know. Land sakes, Sam, what are you askin"
me all these questions for?"
"Just for fun, I guess. I"m interested, naturally. Tell me some more. How was the money--all together, or kind of scattered "round?"
"Eh? . . . Oh, all together."
"Sure of that?"
"Course I"m sure of it. I can see it just as plain as day, now I come to think of it. "Twas all together, in a heap like."
"Um-hm. The band that was round it had come off, then?"
"Band? What band?"
"Why, the paper band with "$400" on it. That had come off when it fell out of my pocket, I presume likely."
"Yes. . . . Yes, I guess likely it did. Must have. . . . Er-- Sam, let me show you that gull vane. I got it so now that--"
"Hold on a minute. I"m mighty interested about your findin" this money. It"s so--so sort of unexpected, as you might say. If that band came off it must have broke when the money tumbled down behind the boards. Let"s see if it did."
He rose and moved toward the pile of boards. Jed also rose.
"What are you goin" to look for?" he asked, anxiously.
"Why, the paper band with the "$400" on it. I"d like to see if it broke. . . . Humph!" he added, peering down into the dark crevice between the boards and the wall of the shop. "Can"t see anything of it, can you?"
Jed, peering solemnly down, shook his head. "No," he said. "I can"t see anything of it."
"But it may be there, for all that." He reached down. "Humph!" he exclaimed. "I can"t touch bottom. Jed, you"ve got a longer arm than I have; let"s see if you can."
Jed, sprawled upon the heap of lumber, stretched his arm as far as it would go. "Hum," he drawled, "I can"t quite make it, Sam. . . .
There"s a place where she narrows way down here and I can"t get my fingers through it."
"Is that so? Then we"d better give up lookin" for the band, I cal"late. Didn"t amount to anything, anyhow. Tell me more about what you did when you found the money. You must have been surprised."
"Eh? . . . Land sakes, I was. I don"t know"s I ever was so surprised in my life. Thinks I, "Here"s Sam"s money that"s missin"
from the bank." Yes, sir, and "twas, too."
"Well, I"m much obliged to you, Jed, I surely am. And when you found it-- Let"s see, you found it this mornin", of course?"
"Eh? Why--why, how--what makes you think I found it this mornin"?"
"Oh, because you must have. "Cause if you"d found it yesterday or the day before you"d have told me right off."
"Yes--oh, yes, that"s so. Yes, I found it this mornin"."
"Hadn"t you thought to hunt for it afore?"
"Eh? . . . Land sakes, yes . . . yes, I"d hunted lots of times, but I hadn"t found it."
"Hadn"t thought to look in that place, eh?"
"That"s it. . . . Say, Sam, what--"