SOME FACTS IN THE CASE.
I was completely dumfounded by the accusations that were brought
against me.
The constable and the others were sure in their minds that I had
stolen, or assisted at stealing, some diamonds from one of the safes in
the Bayport Bank.
How they had come to track me I did not know; but I realized that the
fact of my having that diamond in my possession, would carry much
weight against me.
The story that I had found the stone upon the floor of the living-room
of the mill was not believed, although it was the exact truth.
Mr. Norton’s manner put a sudden suspicion into my mind. He had told a
deliberate falsehood in saying that I had been away from the mill the
previous night. He must certainly have come in while I was sleeping in
the rocker, and seen me.
He had spoken to me on the subject of obtaining money dishonestly.
To my mind no fair and square man would have done so. Was Ford’s
suspicion against him correct? I was half inclined to think that such
was the fact.
Perhaps some of my readers will think it odd that I did not arrive at
this conclusion sooner. Let them remember that I was but a boy, and
that the adventure with the sloop, coupled with the news of my father’s
death and my guardian’s arrival, had completely upset me. Had my mind
been more at ease I might have acted differently from the start.
“Let go of me!” cried Ford sternly.
And catching Mr. Norton by the arm he shoved him several feet away.
“I won’t allow anybody to talk to me in this fashion,” went on my
guardian. “The idea of insinuating that I know anything about this
robbery!”
“Where did the boy spend the night?” asked Pointer, as soon as he could
get a chance to talk.
“I don’t know. He didn’t come in till a little while ago,” returned Mr.
Norton.
“That isn’t so!” I exclaimed. “I was here from half-past twelve until
breakfast-time.”
“Where were you from seven o’clock yesterday until half past twelve?”
questioned Mr. Webster sharply.
“Here most of the time. I left about half-past eleven to go after a
fellow who stole some things from the mill.”
“Another thief?”
“Yes, sir. His name is Andy Carney. He came here to get square with me
on account of Mr. Williams’s boat.”
“I know nothing about that,” returned the bank president.
“Where are the two men that were with you, Rube?” asked the constable.
“Two men with you?” repeated Mr. Norton, with a slight start.
“I haven’t been with any two men,” I returned. “I don’t know what you
are talking about. Mr. Norton was away last night, not I.”
“You bad boy! how can you say such a thing?” burst out my guardian. “I
haven’t been outside of the mill since yesterday afternoon.”
“That is not true! You went out right after supper!”
“Come, come! this is wasting time,” said Mr. Ditson. “Pointer, see if
you can find any more of the diamonds.”
“Will you look after the boy?”
“Certainly.”
“You had better look after Mr. Norton,” I put in.
“What!” screamed that individual.
“My word ought to be as good as his,” I added.
“Certainly,” said Pointer. “I will have to arrest both of you.”
“Arrest me!” ejaculated my guardian, and for the moment all the color
forsook his face.
“Yes, sir. You will be a witness, if nothing else. Will you go along
peaceably?”
“Why――why――I suppose so,” stammered the man. “But, nevertheless, it is
an outrage.”
To this the constable did not reply, but went off to search the mill
for more precious stones.
While he was gone my thoughts were busy. Was my guardian the guilty
party? and were the two strangers I had found at the mill his partners
in the crime? It seemed more than likely.
The thought was a dismaying one, almost as disheartening to me at
that instant as the fact that I was under arrest. The only relative I
possessed in the world a criminal!
It was a bitter thought, and for the moment drove everything else from
my mind. Meanwhile Pointer made a search of the mill and all the rooms
without success.
“If there are any more of these stones here they’re well hidden,” he
said. “Suppose we go to Squire Slocum’s office, and have these two put
in charge, and then go after the men that helped on the burglary?”
This was considered good advice, and five minutes later the mill was
locked up and we all started down the main road, Ford beside me,
telling me to keep up my courage, that he was sure I was innocent, and
that all would yet come right.
Half an hour later found us assembled in the squire’s office, and a
brief hearing began.
I told my story “as straight as a string.” Mr. Norton tried to
interrupt me a number of times, but Squire Slocum promptly shut him up,
and I had a full hearing.
Then my guardian had his say. It was but little more than has been
told. Squire Slocum touched several times on the fact that Mr. Norton
had come to the mill under rather peculiar circumstances, to which that
individual replied that that had nothing to do with the case.
“Perhaps not,” replied the squire coldly.
“But I want that matter investigated too,” I put in. “Squire Slocum,
you were always a good friend to my father, and I don’t know whether
this man is doing right or not according to law. I know he hasn’t acted
as a fair and square guardian ought to do.”
“I will do so later, Reuben,” was the reply. “But this has nothing to
do with the case on hand. You say you know nothing more, and that you
feel sure those two strangers are the guilty parties?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And that Mr. Norton and Carney are also implicated?”
“I think so.”
“The boy is a rascal!” shouted my guardian. “He is――”
“Silence!” put in the squire. “I want no more interruptions from you.”
“Then I don’t want you to allow that boy――”
“Stop!” thundered Squire Slocum, who could get awfully mad at times.
“Fuller,” he went on to one of the officers, “take this man to the
jail.”
“To the jail!” cried Mr. Norton, falling back in astonishment. “What
have I done?”
“You are wanted as a witness, besides being impertinent. You shall have
another hearing this afternoon, or sooner if the other thieves are
caught.”
“Other thieves! Do you consider――”
“I should have said the two thieves Pointer and the other officers are
looking for,” corrected the squire. “Fuller, take Mr. Norton to jailer
Harris.”
And much against his will, my guardian was led out of the court room,
quite a crowd following.
“Reuben, I am sorry to see that you are mixed up in this case,” went on
Squire Slocum in a lower tone.
“I am not guilty, Squire. I never helped to steal anything in my life.”
“But the case looks black for you,” was the grave reply. “We have some
strong evidence against you to hold you――”
“You mean the diamond I found?”
“Not only that, but a number of other things.”
“I should like to know what evidence you have?”
“Your boat was over at Bayport last night, and did not leave until
after two o’clock.”
“Mr. Norton must have used it.”
“Maybe, but that is not at present for me to decide. Then there are
other things――”
“What other things?”
“A small iron bar used to pry open the safe door was found, and it had
your father’s name stamped upon it.”
“That is one that belonged to the mill. Mr. Norton or any one else
might have carried it off.”
“But you were seen, Reuben, in Bayport at eleven o’clock last night,
and you say you were not there at all.”
“Seen!” I cried. “No, no, Squire! Who says so?”
“Several people. They saw you on Maple Avenue, right near the bank.”
“It was not I.”
“These people are sure it was. Then President Webster remembered seeing
you at the bank a few days ago, and he says the janitor remembers that
you hung around a good deal, just at the time Mr. Ditson delivered the
diamonds to him.”
“I was waiting for Mr. Markham, who had promised me a reward for saving
his son from drowning.”
“But this Markham was a very peculiar man,” went on Squire Slocum.
“Webster thinks he might have had something to do with the robbery,
although we cannot tell anything about it.”
“I don’t think he did. I think there is some mistake about Mr.
Markham’s account, but that is all. He was a gentleman, if I am any
judge.”
“We shall see. In the meantime I must place you under arrest.”
“Will you let me know as soon as these two men are found?”
“Yes.”
At this moment constable Pointer came in, and the squire told him to
take me to the jailer, to be put in a cell apart from Mr. Norton.
Feeling pretty downhearted, I followed Pointer from the office to the
rooms below. Here Mr. Harris, the jailer, met us, and I was given over
into his charge.
“We’ll make you as comfortable as possible,” said the jailer kindly.
“I know what it is to be falsely imprisoned, if that is your case. You
shall have the best cell in the building, Rube.”
“What have you done with Mr. Norton?”
“Put him in a corner by himself. He raised such a fearful row.”
A moment more and I was shown into a narrow cell, the door was closed
and locked behind me, and I was a prisoner.