DEAN FINDS A CLEW.
Dean was inclined to agree with his companion. The story told by his
uncle was so preposterous that it could be explained only on the
hypothesis that the speaker's mind was unbalanced.
"Did you fall out of the wagon, neighbor Dunham?" asked Mr. Gould.
"I don't know. I must have fainted."
"If you had fallen out you would have been hurt. Are you bruised
anywhere?"
"No, I don't feel hurt."
"It's queer, Dean," said Mr. Gould, with a puzzled look. "I can't make
it out."
"I think the robber must have taken me out of the buggy, and set me
down under the tree."
"After taking your thousand dollars?"
"Yes, it is hard that I should lose it. I was countin' on what I would
do with it. I thought I would pay off the mortgage on my house."
"Who holds the mortgage?"
"Squire Bates."
Again Dean and Mr. Gould exchanged looks. Neither put any confidence
in the story told by the victim.
Adin Dunham was invited to take a seat in the buggy, Dean resigning his
place and sitting behind. So they reached home.
"Go in, Dean, and tell your aunt what has happened, so that she needn't
be frightened when she sees your uncle," said Mr. Gould.
Dean obeyed instructions.
"Aunt," said Dean, "you are not to be frightened, but uncle met with an
accident. He isn't hurt!" he added, noticing the quick look of alarm,
"but he says he has been robbed."
"Robbed! Has he lost the thousand dollars?" exclaimed Mrs. Dunham in a
trembling voice.
"Did he really have a thousand dollars?" said Dean. "I thought he might
be under a delusion."
"Then he says he has lost it?"
"Yes."
"Heaven help us to bear this terrible blow!" ejaculated Mrs. Dunham,
sinking into a chair. "I wish he had taken you with him."
"I wish so, too. I don't believe one robber would have been a match for
us both."
Here Adin Dunham entered the house. He looked ten years older than when
he left it in the morning, and there was a vacant look in the eyes.
"Wife!" he said feebly, "it's all gone! Some villain has robbed me of
the thousand dollars."
"But you, Adin, were you hurt? You look sick."
"My head doesn't feel right. I think it's the shock."
"I'll get you some hot tea directly. You'll feel better after taking
it."
"I hope so. Oh, Sarah, I didn't expect such a blow as this."
"Try not to think of it now. Get well first, and then we'll see what we
can do to find the robber."
"I know him now!"
"You know who robbed you!" said his wife, stopping short in her
surprise.
"Yes."
"Who was it? Any one livin' round here?"
"It was Squire Bates."
A terrible suspicion entered the mind of the poor wife. It was clear to
her that her husband's mind was unhinged. As soon as she had a chance
she went out to where Dean and Mr. Gould were standing in the yard.
"Did Mr. Dunham tell you who robbed him?" she asked.
"Yes, aunt," answered Dean. "He said it was Squire Bates."
"He just told me so. What do you think of it, neighbor Gould?"
"I think your husband is upset by his accident," answered Gould,
cautiously. "We'll wait and see what he says to-morrow."
"I guess you're right."
"You see he fainted away, and it's likely he hasn't fairly come to. At
first I thought it wasn't true about the thousand dollars."
"That is true. He received it to-day from the new hotel company for
some land he sold them."
"It's too bad, Mrs. Dunham. I'll do my part towards finding out the
villain that robbed your poor husband."
"Uncle says he knew the squire by his teeth," said Dean, thoughtfully.
"They certainly are very peculiar teeth."
"Did you ever know anyone else having such teeth?" asked Dean.
"No, except the squire's boy."
"Yes, Brandon's teeth are just like his father's. But of course the
thief wasn't Brandon."
"Look here, Dean," said Mr. Gould quickly, "I hope you don't pay
any attention to that foolish story of your uncle. He was thinking
of Squire Bates, as he intended to pay him up the mortgage which he
holds, and he naturally pictured him with the teeth which are his most
prominent feature, so to speak. I don't fancy the squire myself, but I
think he is in better business than disguising himself and robbing his
neighbors."
"No doubt you are right, Mr. Gould," said Dean; but in spite of his
words, and absurd as he admitted the suspicion to be, he could not help
dwelling upon his uncle's story.
The next day Adin Dunham kept his bed. The shock to his system was such
that his strength gave away, and the doctor was summoned.
"Adin," said his wife, anxious to clear up her doubts as to his sanity,
"can you describe the man that robbed you?"
"Why should I describe him? You know how he looks as well as I do."
"How should I know, Adin?"
"It was Squire Bates, I tell you. You know how he looks."
The poor woman went out of the room, and raised her apron to her eyes.
"Poor Adin is clean upset!" she murmured. "It isn't enough that he's
lost his money, he must lose his mind too. Misfortunes never come
singly, as my poor old father used to say.
"Dean," she continued when they were alone, "your uncle still sticks to
his story that Squire Bates robbed him."
"Aunt Sarah," answered Dean gravely, "a thousand dollars would tempt
almost anybody!"
"Dean, you don't mean to hint that the squire would rob anybody!"
"I don't know, aunt. A good many strange things happen in the world."
"I begin to think you are as crazy as your uncle!" said Mrs. Dunham
almost angrily.
"Suppose neither of us should be crazy, aunt!"
Mrs. Dunham shook her head. She was surprised that so sensible a boy as
Dean should give credence to the absurd delusion of her husband.
Meanwhile Dean had come to a conclusion as to what to do. He would
visit the place where the robbery took place—his uncle had described
it so accurately that there would be no mistaking it—and see whether
there was anything to be learned there.
He found an opportunity the very next afternoon. He did not say
anything to his aunt, for it would only have excited her unduly.
Besides, he thought it very possible that he would have to return
without any information, and might be laughed at.
It was a considerable walk to the place indicated, but he reached it in
due time. He was afraid he would meet some one who would ask him his
object, but it was a lonely spot, and only one team passed. He saw it
in time to dodge into the woods, and so avoided questioning.
When the team had passed on he came out to the road. He could see
the exact position of the buggy at the time it was stopped by the
robber, and he found the tree under which his uncle was placed in an
unconscious condition.
"I have satisfied my curiosity," he said to himself, "but that is all.
I haven't got any information."
Just then his sharp eyes fell upon a small bright object on the ground
about three feet from the tree. He pounced upon it eagerly and picked
it up.
It was a sleeve button, apparently gold. Just in the center was a black
initial letter. This letter was B!
Dean's eyes lighted up.
"This may lead to something," he said to himself quietly, as he slipped
the button into his pocket.