Old Mike went to sleep quickly; but Hal had not worked for several days,
and had exciting thoughts to keep him awake. He had been lying quiet for
a couple of hours, when he became aware that some one was moving in the
room. There was a lamp burning dimly, and through half-closed eyes he
made out one of the men lifting himself to a sitting position. At first
he could not be sure which one it was, but finally he recognised the
Greek.
Hal lay motionless, and after a minute or so he stole another look and
saw the man crouching and listening, his hands still on the floor.
Through half opened eye-lids Hal continued to steal glimpses, while the
other rose and tip-toed towards him, stepping carefully over the
sleeping forms.
Hal did his best to simulate the breathing of sleep: no easy matter,
with the man stooping over him, and a knife-thrust as one of the
possibilities of the situation. He took the chance, however; and after
what seemed an age, he felt the man’s fingers lightly touch his side.
They moved down to his coat-pocket.
“Going to search me!” thought Hal; and waited, expecting the hand to
travel to other pockets. But after what seemed an interminable period,
he realised that Apostolikas had risen again, and was stepping back to
his place. In a minute more he had lain down, and all was still in the
cabin.
Hal’s hand moved to the pocket, and his fingers slid inside. They
touched something, which he recognised instantly as a roll of bills.
“I see!” thought he. “A frame-up!” And he laughed to himself, his mind
going back to early boyhood--to a dilapidated trunk in the attic of his
home, containing story-books that his father had owned. He could see
them now, with their worn brown covers and crude pictures: “The Luck and
Pluck Series,” by Horatio Alger; “Live or Die,” “Rough and Ready,” etc.
How he had thrilled over the story of the country-boy who comes to the
city, and meets the villain who robs his employer’s cash-drawer and
drops the key of it into the hero’s pocket! Evidently some one connected
with the General Fuel Company had read Horatio Alger!
Hal realised that he could not be too quick about getting those bills
out of his pocket. He thought of returning them to “Judas,” but decided
that he would save them for Edstrom, who was likely to need money before
long. He gave the Greek half an hour to go to sleep, then with his
pocket-knife he gently picked out a hole in the cinders of the floor and
buried the money as best he could. After which he wormed his way to
another place, and lay thinking.