"That is possible," he finally agreed. "But if the knife and the few links of chain can be traced--"
""Tis a clue," Tobias said. "Looks like somebody might be in this job who wasn"t just an ordinary burglar. Heh?"
"I"ll allow that, Tobias."
"Well, that is all I had to tell you, Mr. Thompson. I reckon you"ll give the knife to the city detectives when they come?"
"Naturally. I will put all possible clues into their hands," the bank president rejoined, glancing again at the little red book.
"Course, there may be nothing to it. But who else could have lost that knife there without making talk about it-advertised the loss, as ye might say?"
"True," agreed Thompson.
"Probably it belongs to somebody who is kind of a fancy dresser. No ordinary longsh.o.r.e clam digger would own such a thing. I give it as my opinion that it might have been lost by some feller-whoever he was-that has been hangin" around the port long enough this summer to l"arn all them burglars wanted to know about the bank, and the watchman, and all.
Heh?"
"Sounds reasonable, Tobias."
"I cal"late. And he must be one of the summer folks."
"That is so, too. Whom do you suspect, Tobias?"
The lightkeeper grinned. He wagged his head.
"Oh, sugar!" he said, paying Arad Thompson back in his own coin. "If I am suspecting anybody, I ain"t going to tell you, Mr. Thompson.
Nossir!"
CHAPTER XX
PUT TO THE QUESTION
Tobias had more than satisfied his curiosity in coming to town. His discovery of the gold penknife was the sum of the a.s.sistance he could give Arad Thompson, the bank"s president, at this time. His interest in the burglary, however, continued to be keen; but he went back to the Twin Rocks Light soon after noon.
He could take little cheer to Heppy. For just how much the depositors of the bank must suffer because of the loss of the hundred and forty thousand dollars, Tobias had no idea. n.o.body with whom he talked seemed to know. All were pessimistic.
"Looks like something was the trouble besides just the burglary,"
croaked one bird of ill-omen, perched like a buzzard on the horse rack before Silas Compton"s store. "Else Arad would have sent for some cash from somewhere and gone on with business, same as usual. This shutting the bank tight"s a drum--"
"They say it"s the new bankin" law done it," interposed somebody.
"Dunno. Don"t look right. If the bank"s rotten we"d ought to have a chance to get what money we can out of it."
"That"s right! "Fore we lose it all."
"Guess it"s all gone by now," groaned another.
"Say!" observed Tobias, after listening to this talk for some time, "I give it as my opinion Arad Thompson is a purty slick citizen. He was smart to get that bank examiner here-no two ways about it! Otherwise there would have been a run on the bank. We"d all have been crazy to try to get our money."
"Why shouldn"t we get it? It"s our"n."
"Wal," Tobias said slowly. "I don"t s"pose Arad can call all his loans in on the dot. Nossir! Why should we expect him to pay us just whenever we want it-all in a lump?"
The lightkeeper could study out the reason for the bank president"s att.i.tude and logically come to the conclusion he did. Arad Thompson knew Clinkerport folk well. Suspicion would be rife in any case and the moment announcement was made of the robbery many would rail against his management of the bank"s funds. The president was taking no chances.
Without a penny of cash left in the bank, the depositors would have been clamoring at the cage windows like wolves had the doors not remained barred.
There were those people, too, who had "inside information." There are always these "know-it-alls" in every community.
"No use trying to smooth it over, Tobias," whispered one of these to the lightkeeper. "There"s something fishy about Arad"s bank. I ain"t got a cent in it-never would put any in. I always have had my suspicions of Arad Thompson.
"But Phil Henry is my next-door neighbor, an" Phil Henry is cashier. He ain"t been let into the bank this morning no more than the other officers. And Phil told me that right lately Arad"s been getting his hands on all the cash he could. Mebbe he did have as much as a hundred and forty thousand there."
"Wal?" proposed Tobias, unshaken.
"Drat it all, Tobe? Don"t you see? Or won"t ye? Mebbe there ain"t been no real burglary at all. Looks funny. They say the vault door was opened on the combination. That "twasn"t busted."
"Huh?"
"Arad just _says_ there was a burglary. S"pose he"d arranged for somebody to saw them bars on the sly and bust the winder-lock and drug Bill Purvis"s tea? Heh? S"pose Arad robbed the bank hisself?"
"Oh, sugar!" murmured Tobias. "That"s what they all say. Why don"t you suggest something new?"
"All right! All right! Don"t you believe it, Tobe," said his acquaintance. "You will remember what I told ye when you don"t see hide nor hair of your money again."
"I don"t see it now," confessed Tobias rather ruefully. "But I still have hopes of Arad"s being pretty average honest."
He found Heppy one of the most pessimistic of all those affected by or interested in the bank burglary. She was actually ill. Whether it was the excitement or the over-exertion of climbing the lighthouse stairs to the lamp room, the woman gave every indication of bodily as well as of mental illness.
She sat in her rocking chair before the kitchen stove, weaving back and forth, and sobbing. When she raised her head to look at her brother as he entered, he was actually startled by her appearance.
"Oh, sugar, Heppy! What"s the matter o" ye?"
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Oh, sugar, Heppy! What"s the matter o" ye?"]
"Did-did you get our money, Tobias?" she gasped.
"No, no! O" course not. Things have got to be straightened out."
"Did you see Arad Thompson?"
"Yes. I talked personally with him, Heppy."
"What did he say?" urged the woman.
"Why, he couldn"t say nothin" yet. Not till the bank"s books was gone over. It"s bein" done."