DR. THORP'S CABINET.
Dr. Thorp had been pleased with Peter Kirby, who had laid himself
out to be agreeable, and the doctor was far from suspecting his real
character. When this was revealed to him by Dean, he quickly decided to
test it for himself.
Some men, inclined to be nervous and timid, would have had their
apprehensions excited, and dreaded an encounter with a professional
criminal. But Dr. Thorp was cool, resolute and determined. He proposed
to facilitate Kirby's designs, and catch him in a trap.
When he reached home he found Kirby smoking on the piazza.
"Have you been taking a walk, Doctor?" he asked.
"Yes," answered Dr. Thorp. "I made a call on a neighbor. I hope you
have not been lonesome."
"Oh, no! Your daughter has enabled me to pass the time pleasantly. But
I am glad to see you back."
Had Kirby known that Dr. Thorp had had an interview with Dean Dunham,
his anxiety would have been excited.
"By the way, Doctor," said Kirby with apparent carelessness, "I have a
little money to invest. Can you recommend any form of investment?"
"You might buy a house in the village and settle down. I believe the
next estate is for sale."
"It would certainly be an inducement to become your neighbor," said
Kirby politely, "but I am a rolling stone. I am always traveling. I
couldn't content myself in any one place, not even in a large city."
"I suspect your mode of life makes frequent removals necessary,"
thought Dr. Thorp, though he did not say so.
"Well, if you don't care to invest in real estate," he said a moment
later, "you might purchase government bonds or railroad securities."
"To which do you give the preference?" asked Kirby.
The doctor smiled inwardly. He saw that Kirby was trying to ascertain
whether he had any negotiable securities in his possession, but he was
ready to play into his hands.
"Well," he said, "I think well of both."
"I had some government bonds at one time," said Kirby, "but they were
stolen. That has made me cautious."
"Perhaps you were careless."
"No doubt I was. I kept them in a trunk at my boarding-house. I presume
you wouldn't venture, even in a quiet village like this, to keep bonds
in your house?"
"Oh, yes, we never receive visits from thieves or burglars. I don't
consider trunks so safe as—that cabinet."
He pointed to a black walnut cabinet with several drawers standing in
one corner of the room.
Kirby's face lighted up. He had got the information he desired, but he
resumed his indifferent manner.
"I think you are right," he said. "Besides, in a town like Carterville,
as you say, thieves are hardly likely to be found."
"Oh, dear, no!" said Dr. Thorp yawning. "I have no occasion to borrow
trouble on that score."
"Living as I generally do in large cities where members of the criminal
class abound," said Kirby, "I am naturally more suspicious than you. I
confess I wish I lived in a place of Arcadian innocence like this."
Dr. Thorp smiled. He was amused to hear one whom he believed to be a
professional thief discourse in this manner.
"You might find it dull," he said, a little satirically, "It would lack
the spice and excitement of wickedness."
At a little after eleven Kirby signified that he was tired and was
conducted to his bed-chamber. Dr. Thorp remained behind, and opening
the lower drawer of his cabinet removed therefrom a roll of bank bills
and a five hundred dollar government bond.
"I think these will be safe in my trunk to-night," he said to himself.
"Now, Mr. Kirby, you can explore the cabinet at your leisure. I doubt
if you will find enough to repay you for your trouble."
Kirby occupied a chamber just over the sitting-room. He didn't undress
himself, but threw himself on the bed to snatch a little rest.
"I found out very cleverly where the doctor kept his bonds," he
soliloquized. "He is an innocent, unsuspicious man, luckily for me.
So no thieves or burglars ever visit Carterville," he repeated with a
soft laugh. "The good doctor would have been mightily surprised had he
known the character of the man with whom he was talking. It is hardly
a credit to take in a simple-minded man like the doctor. I very much
regret the necessity of repaying his hospitality as I shall, but I
need the bonds more than he does."
Kirby did not allow himself to sleep. There was important work to be
done, and he must not run the risk of oversleeping himself.
He waited impatiently till he heard the public clock strike midnight,
then taking off his shoes descended in his stocking feet to the
sitting-room. There stood the cabinet plainly visible in the glorious
moonlight that flooded the room, making artificial light unnecessary.
"It's an easy job for a man of my experience to open it," thought
Kirby. "I hope the doctor is sound asleep. He looks like a man who is
safe to sleep all night."
From his pocket he produced a bunch of skeleton keys, which he at once
set himself to use. The lock on the drawer of the cabinet was a simple
one, presenting no difficulty, and in less than five minutes he opened
the upper drawer. A glance satisfied him that it contained nothing that
he could make available. In turn he opened the other drawers, with
equal ill success.
"The doctor must have fooled me!" he muttered impatiently, "or is there
some secret drawer that I have overlooked?"
This question he asked himself, but he was far from expecting an answer.
"You have examined the cabinet pretty thoroughly Mr. Kirby," said a
cool, calm voice.
Kirby sprang to his feet in wild dismay. There, looking at him from the
doorway, was Dr. Thorp, his host, whom he was conspiring to rob.
"You are an early riser, are you not, Mr. Kirby?" said the doctor
composedly.
Kirby quickly decided upon his course.
"Where am I?" he asked, passing his hand over his face in a bewildered
way.
"Where are you? Don't you recognize the room? A more pertinent query
would be, 'What are you doing?'"
"Good Heavens!" ejaculated Kirby—"I—I see it now. That unfortunate
habit of walking in my sleep! What can you think of me?"
"Do you generally carry skeleton keys about with you when you walk in
your sleep, Mr. Kirby?" asked the doctor pointedly.
"I—I really don't know how to explain," stammered Kirby. "These keys
I found in my room on the morning after I was robbed. I took them with
me, thinking they might be of use if I should lose my regular keys."
"Very ingeniously explained, upon my word!"
"It isn't possible, Dr. Thorp, that you really take me for a thief! I
hope you have more confidence in me."
"Well, it really did occur to me that you were a professional burglar.
Your last words which I overheard before intruding upon you seem to
bear out that supposition."
"What were they?"
"'_Is there some secret drawer that I have overlooked?_' Perhaps you
will do me the favor to explain them."
"I can't. They were spoken unconsciously, I assure you. This habit of
walking in my sleep has got me into trouble several times before."
"Then take my advice and discontinue it."
"I will. I should have asked you to lock me in my chamber if I could
have foreseen what has happened."
"Mr. Kirby," said Dr. Thorp sternly, "you must think I am a simpleton
to be taken in by such a transparent falsehood. I was deceived in you,
I admit, but now I understand your real character. I won't have you
arrested, though I ought, but I require you to leave my house at once."
"In the middle of the night?" said Kirby in dismay.
"Yes. I cannot agree to shelter you even for the balance of the night."
"Tell me one thing," said Kirby, changing his tone; "did any one put
you on your guard against me?"
"Yes."
"It was Dean Dunham."
"You can form your own conclusions."
"That is all you need tell me. I understand it all. I will go to my
room and secure my luggage, and then bid you good-bye."
"I will wait for you."
"I owe you another debt, Dean Dunham!" said Kirby, as he left the house
with the pleasant prospect of a sleepless night.