ted his words.

"Well, I'm blessed!" murmured Hill, "Why, Hank Burton is one of the three
who helped Lafe Wynn nearly ruin you! And now you talk o' grubstakin'
him. That red hair of yours certainly covers a lot of foolish idees."

"Burton is the best of Gerald's old gang, Hiram," said Clancy, as the
two walked in the direction of the Bolingbroke House.

"That ain't a-sayin' a heap in his favor."

"He's a whole lot better than Bob Katz."

"Not much in that, nuther. But you won't have no chance to grubstake
Burton, Clancy. He won't show up in the mornin'."

They reached the hotel, secured a room, and Clancy at once got out of
his wet clothes. He was so tired and sleepy that he dozed off without
thinking anything about the water-soaked satchel.

Hill, however, had the satchel on his mind, and took good care of it.
When Clancy awoke in the morning, the bright sun was streaming in at the
two windows of the room. On the floor in front of the windows Hill had
spread two newspapers; and on these newspapers, where the warm sun would
strike them, he had spread out the bank notes that had gone into the
ocean with Clancy the night before.

It was pleasant work for Hiram, drying all that money. He whistled
joyously as he changed the wet bills around, shifting the dryest to the
shade and the wettest to the place where they would receive the hottest
part of the sun's rays.

"How much is there, all together, Hiram?" Clancy asked.

"You're shy just half of the fifteen thousand, Clancy," was the reply;
"there's only seventy-five hundred here--hardly enough to bother with."

CHAPTER XIII.

A "WIRELESS" FOR LAFE.

Clancy was startled. He had only been half as successful as he thought
he had.

"Well, thunder!" he exclaimed, sitting up in bed. "Last night, Hiram, I
was sure I had all the money that had been taken from Phoenix by Lafe."

"This Was Bob Katz's satchel, wasn't it?" Hill asked, nodding toward the
grip.

"Yes."

"Well, Katz said he had only severity-five hundred in it, when it was
taken from him by Hogan and Wynn."

"That's so," mused Clancy. "I didn't have much time last night, to
reason matters out to a fine point. Half a loaf is better than no bread,
though, I've heard say. I hadn't dreamed of recovering a cent of that
fifteen thousand. Lafe and I are just so much ahead."

A knock fell on the door. Hill answered the summons and admitted Hank
Burton.

"Well, by golly!" exclaimed Hill.

"What's the m