art of the house, it was possible that they might have
gone there without having any business.

But there was no reason to conclude that anyone residing in the house at
all was the guilty party; any person could walk in from the street at
any hour. Itinerants often passed through the place with mice,
squirrels, and other things, which they tried to sell to the boys, and
one of these might have slipped up-stairs. But, no; a man like that
would not have known that there was likely to be money in that
particular box; it certainly looked more like the action of someone who
had good information.

Such were the speculations and reasonings which were rife in Weston for
the next few days; and then the topic began to grow stale, for no one
had been seen hanging about the house that afternoon, and there was no
satisfactory peg upon which to hang conjecture. One hard fact remained;
poor Crawley was answerable for four pounds twelve shillings which had
been stolen from him, and this came at a time when he was particularly
anxious to spend as little money as possible. He did not make much fuss
about it, and only to Buller, his friendship with whom grew stronger the
more they knew of one another, did he speak his mind.

"My poor mother!" he said during a Sunday walk the day after the
robbery; "I shall have to ask her for the money, and it is precious hard
upon her. I have been abominably extravagant, and she is not rich, and
there are a lot of us. I owe a good bit to Tiffin, and to my London
tailor too, but he will wait any time. Tiffin duns me, hang him! though
why he should be devoted to capital punishment for asking for his due I
don't know either. I should not have had such a lot of patties, fruit,
ices, and stuff. He will have to be paid at latest when I leave; and at
that time, if I get into Woolwich, there will be my outfit. And then I
must needs buy a gun and a license for just three days' shooting with
Gould last Christmas; and tipping the groom and keeper was a heavy item
besides. One of my sisters is delicate, and can't walk far; and they
could keep a pony-carriage if it wasn't for me. And now, here is
another flyer I must rob my mother of, just because I left my keys in my
coat when I changed my dress--sheer carelessness!"

"Never mind; you will get into Woolwich next examination, and then you
will soon get a commission, and draw pay, and not want so much from your
mother."

"Yes, I think of that, and it