t tell what
it was all about. Not a word had been said about a boy to fill Fitz's
place. He asked Burnet what Mr. Checkynshaw wanted of him; but the
cashier was dumb.
After the banker had told the officer all about the affair, they went
into the private office, and Leo was subjected to a long and severe
questioning. Then he learned that "Mr. Hart" was not Mr. Hart, and that
the safe had been plundered. He was filled with astonishment, not to
say horror; but every answer he gave was straightforward, and at the
end of it the skilled detective declared that he had had nothing to do
with the robbery.
"Do you know Fitz Wittleworth?" demanded Mr. Checkynshaw, sharply.
"Yes, sir."
"Did he ever say anything to you about me?"
"I have heard him call you Old Checkynshaw; but he never said anything
that I can remember, except that you couldn't get along in your
business without him."
"Did he ever say anything about any papers of mine?" asked the banker,
scowling fiercely.
"No, sir."
The banker plied Leo with questions in this direction; but he failed to
elicit anything which confirmed his fears. A carriage was called, and
Mr. Checkynshaw and the constable, taking Leo with them, were driven to
the house of the barber.
CHAPTER VI.
LEO'S WORKSHOP.
When the banker and the detective reached the barber's house, the
supper table was waiting for Andre and Leo. Perhaps Mr. Checkynshaw
wondered how even a poor man could live in such a small house, with
such "little bits of rooms." It had been built to fill a corner, and it
fitted very snugly in its place. Andre thought it was the nicest house
in Boston, and for many years it had been a palace to him.
It contained only four rooms, two on each floor. The two rooms up
stairs were appropriated to the use of Maggie and Leo. The front room
down stairs was required to do double duty, as a parlor, and a
sleeping-room for Andre; but the bedstead was folded up into a
secretary during the day. In the rear of this was the "living room." In
the winter the parlor was not used, for the slender income of the
barber would not permit him to keep two fires. In this apartment, which
served as a kitchen, dining and sitting room, was spread the table
which waited for Andre and Leo.
The barber almost always came home before six o'clock; for, in the
vicinity of State Street, all is quiet at this hour, and the shop was
closed. Maggie sat before the stove, wondering why Andre d
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