During the day Colonel Ross had no occasion to look into his trunk of
securities. Clearly, he had no suspicion that he had met with a loss.
It might strike the reader as curious that Philip began to be impatient
to have his father make the discovery. An impending blow always leads
to a state of suspense which is by no means agreeable. When the blow
falls, a certain relief is felt. So Philip knew that the discovery
would be made sooner or later, and he wanted to have the matter
settled, and clear himself at once from suspicion by diverting it to
Harry Gilbert.
In the hope that his father would find out his loss, he lingered round
the house through the afternoon, filling up the time as well as he
could. Usually, he would have passed at least a part of the time with
James Congreve, but the latter had gone to the city.
“Don’t you feel well, Philip?” asked his mother.
“Certainly! What makes you ask?”
“You don’t generally stay at home all the afternoon.”
“Oh, well, there isn’t anything going on in the village.”
“Where is that friend of yours who is staying at the hotel?”
“He went away this morning to the city.”
“Isn’t he coming back?”
“Oh, yes, I suppose so.”
“I suppose you feel lonely without him?”
“Yes, mother.”
“Have you seen anything of Uncle Obed lately?” asked Mrs. Ross, making
a wry face as she pronounced the word admitting the relationship.
“Yes; I saw him walking with the Gilbert boy the other evening.”
“Did you speak to him?”
“No; I just nodded. I don’t care about getting intimate with him. I
wish he’d leave town.”
“As likely as not, he’ll use up all his money, and then come on your
father for help.”
“I hope father won’t give him anything, then,” said Philip.
“I am willing that he should give him enough to get him back to
Illinois. He ought never to have left there. If he thinks we are going
to pay his board here, all I can say is that he is very much mistaken,”
said Mrs. Ross, pressing her thin lips together with emphasis.
“That’s the talk, ma! I am glad you don’t mean to be imposed upon. I
suppose old Wilkins thinks you are soft, and won’t see him suffer.
You’d better keep a stiff upper lip.”
“He will know me better after a while,” said Mrs. Ross.
The afternoon wore away, and supper came. Philip partook as usual, and
waited afterward in the confident expectation that his father would
open the small trunk. He was not mistaken.
Upon retiring to his special apartment, Colonel Ross took up the trunk,
and, producing the key, opened it.
It so happened that he was after some papers, and did not immediately
take up the envelope containing the government bonds. Philip was rather
afraid he wouldn’t, and ventured to remind him of them by a question.
“How many government bonds have you in that envelope, pa?” he asked.
“A little over a thousand dollars,” answered Colonel Ross.
“Will you let me look at one? I want to see how it looks.”
This question led the colonel to open the envelope. He took out a bond
and handed it to Philip.
“Are these coupons?” asked Philip, who knew perfectly well, but only
wanted to fix his father’s attention.
“Yes, they are promises to pay interest semiannually. In January and
July I cut off one of these little slips, and receive the interest it
represents in gold.”
“That’s very convenient, isn’t it?”
“Yes, for I can get the coupons cashed at any bank or broker’s office.”
Almost mechanically, he began to draw out the bonds and count them. But
his air of inattention was quickly replaced by a look of surprise and
anxiety. He counted the bonds over again, more deliberately, but each
time the number came short two.
“That’s strange,” he said, in a low tone.
“What is strange, pa?”
“Two bonds seem to be missing,” said his father, in a tone of concern.
“I’ve got one, you know, in my hand.”
“Yes, yes. I reckoned that.”
“How large were they? Is it much of a loss?”
“One hundred dollars apiece, and each worth a hundred and fifteen
dollars, on account of the premium. Do you know anything about them?”
and Colonel Ross fixed a piercing eye on his son.
“I, pa? How should I know anything about them? Why, I didn’t know
exactly how they looked. When did you see them all last?”
“Last evening. I happened to count them then.”
“They must have been taken from the trunk since then.”
“Then I am almost sure I know how it happened,” said Philip, suddenly,
as if a light had dawned upon him.
“I should like to have you tell me, then.”
“You remember, pa, you left the keys on the desk?”
“Yes; but there was no one here except you,” and again the father had
suspicion of his son.
“I hope you don’t think I’d do such a thing as that?” said Philip,
virtuously. “But I am afraid it is my fault, for I left the outside
door unlocked all night. Any one might have come in and stolen the
bonds.”
“That is true; but why didn’t they take more, or all? You didn’t see
any one round when you went to bed, did you?”
“Yes, I did,” answered Philip, with well-feigned eagerness. “Just as I
was going to bed, I went into the next room, where the trunk is, and,
turning to look out of the window, I was quite startled to see Harry
Gilbert’s face close to the window. The light shining through the
doorway was quite strong enough for him to see the trunk and keys lying
on your desk. It’s as sure as can be that he took the bonds. You see,
he could slip in after I went upstairs, and there was nothing to
prevent. He might have been lurking around when you were examining the
bonds last night, and saw you place them back in the envelope.”
“What is all this about?” asked Mrs. Ross, entering the room at this
point.
It was explained to her, and she instantly adopted her son’s view.
“Phil’s hit the nail on the head, I do believe,” she said. “I didn’t
think he was so sharp. Colonel Ross, I have no doubt the Gilbert boy
took the bonds.”
“Then, why didn’t he take more?” asked Ross.
“Oh, he got frightened—thought he heard a noise, or perhaps he thought
it would not be discovered so quick if he only took two. There are
reasons enough.”
Philip and Mrs. Ross assumed so confident a tone that Colonel Ross,
though at first inclined to discredit the charge, ended by believing it
very probable.
“This thing must be attended to,” he said. “What are you going to do
about it, pa?”
“I shall go before Justice Slocum, and get a warrant to search Widow
Gilbert’s house. If I find anything, I shall have Harry arrested.”
“Now, you’re in a scrape, Harry Gilbert,” said Philip to himself,
exultantly.
“I guess I’ll go along with you, pa,” he said, aloud, “and see if James
Congreve has got back from the city.”