Singular as it may seem, neither Harry nor his mother had thought of them, and the false inference that might be drawn from their discovery.
It was natural, therefore, that each should look startled and discomposed.
"Ha! what have we here?" demanded Colonel Ross, clutching the envelope.
"Those are my property," said Harry, who was the first to recover his self-possession.
"I will take the liberty to examine. Ha! government bonds, as I live.
Constable, what do you say now?" demanded the Colonel, triumphantly.
The constable, who knew nothing of Harry"s gift, looked very uncomfortable indeed. Despite his belief in Harry"s honesty, he was staggered by this apparent evidence to the contrary.
"What is this, Mrs. Gilbert?" he asked.
"They are bonds belonging to Harry. He speaks the truth."
"A likely story," exclaimed Colonel Ross. "Really, Mrs. Gilbert, your conduct is most extraordinary. I begin to think you had some knowledge of your son"s act."
"Colonel Ross, don"t you dare to insult my mother," said Harry, so fiercely that the Colonel retreated a little, under the impression that our hero intended to make an insult upon him.
"Be careful, boy," he warned. "I"ve caught you red-handed in the commission of a crime that may send you to State"s prison. You"d better take heed what you say!"
"Mr. Rogers," said Mrs. Gilbert, "that envelope contains government bonds that belong to my son. Ask Colonel Ross how many he lost."
"Two bonds of a hundred dollars each," answered the Colonel. "And here they are," he continued, producing two bonds of that denomination from the envelope.
"Look again. See if there are no more," said Harry.
The Colonel, evidently surprised, produced a fifty.
"Do you mean to say that you lost that, also?" inquired Harry.
"No," replied the Colonel, evidently puzzled; "you must have got that from somewhere else."
"I got the whole somewhere else," said Harry.
"It is entirely useless, Harry Gilbert, to attempt to impose upon me by any such ridiculous story. As to the extra bond, I don"t know where it came from. Perhaps your mother had it before. It doesn"t alter the fact that I have found my stolen bonds in your possession."
"When did you lose your bonds?" asked Uncle Obed, who thought it time to "put in his oar," as he afterward expressed it.
"Last evening."
"You"re sure you had "em up to that time, are you?"
"Yes; I looked them over, and counted them early in the evening."
"Then, all I can say is that the bonds you"ve got in your hands have been in the house several days. Harry showed them to me when he first got "em."
"Really, Mr. Wilkins, I don"t like to doubt the word of an old man like you; but, sir, your statement is absolutely incredible."
"It is true," said Mrs. Gilbert. "I, too, a.s.sert the same thing."
"Then you are all in a conspiracy," said Colonel Ross, in a pa.s.sion.
"And you have evidently plotted the ruin of an innocent boy," said Mrs.
Gilbert, with spirit.
"You have always pretended to be poor," continued Colonel Ross, "and now you expect me to believe that your son owns nearly three hundred dollars" worth of bonds!"
"I do, for it is true."
"Where did he get them?"
"They were given him."
"Utterly absurd! People don"t often give boys such presents as that.
Constable, I call on you to arrest that boy."
"Where is your warrant, Colonel?"
"Arrest him on suspicion."
"I could not do it."
"Then you mean to connive at his escape?"
"No; I"ll stay here to-night, if you insist upon it."
"Do so, and I will take the bonds."
"Lay them down, Colonel Ross; they are my property!" said Harry, sternly.
"You can"t be allowed to take "em, Colonel, till you prove that they are yours. One you admit is not," said the constable.
"It doesn"t matter much," replied the Colonel, discomfited. "They will find their way back to me soon. This boy won"t take on so high a tone tomorrow."
CHAPTER x.x.xVIII
PHILIP"S SURPRISE
"Where did that other bond come from?" thought Colonel Ross, as he wended his way homeward. "I can"t understand it. Perhaps the boy took it from some one else. It is just possible that his mother may have owned a fifty-dollar bond."
To do Colonel Ross justice, he really thought that the bonds he had discovered were his own, and he was convinced, by what his son had told him, that Harry had really entered his house on the night when the outer door had been left open and abstracted them.
Philip, disappointed at not finding his friend Congreve at the hotel, took his way home, and was already in the house when his father returned. He was naturally curious to hear something of the result of his errand.