sent, Mr. Dicks----"

"Of course I will! Do you suppose I'm going to lose twenty dollars?"

"But you must promise me not to give it out until you hear from me again."

"I don't see what right you have to dictate to me what I should do an' what
I shouldn't do----"

"I am not dictating. The bill is mine, and I intend to have it, sooner or
later."

"But where do we come in?" asked Will Dicks, who was cooler than his
parent.

"You will have to look to Percy Paget to make the loss good."

"If he has cheated me I'll have him locked up!" cried Uriah, drawing down
his sharp face. "But you haven't proved the bill yours yet."

"I know that. All I am asking is that you keep the bill for the present,
and not pay it out to any one."

"Well, I'll do that," responded Uriah, after some meditation.

"You'll hear from me again, soon," concluded Ralph, as he walked from the
store.

"Well, he carries a high hand, I must say!" growled Uriah, as he put his
money and the tin box away again. "I wonder what the trouble is?"

"I thought it was queer Percy had so big a bill," commented his son.

"Did you? Well, if you did, what did you want to change it for?"

"He bought half a dozen packages of cigarettes."

"Humph! Hardly any profit in 'em, and the bill likely to get us into
trouble, William! You must be more careful!"

"Percy said I could hang up the account if I didn't want to change the
bill, and you said you didn't want to trust any of the young fellows."

"No more I don't. But I ain't goin' to lose twenty dollars. I'll make that
Nelson boy prove it's his, or he sha'n't tech it; no, sir!"

And with a thump of his hard and skinny fist on the counter, Uriah Dicks
resumed the labor of closing up his establishment for the night.

"Nelson looked as if he had it in for Percy," soliloquized Will Dicks, as
he brought in the few boxes and barrels that remained outside. "I would
like to know what is in the wind."

His father also wished to know. It was not long before they were
enlightened.

CHAPTER VII.

PERCY'S HOME.

For a few minutes Ralph stood outside of the general store, undecided what
was best to do next.

It was true that the bill in Uriah Dicks' possession was his own, yet how
could he prove it, and thus get it once more into his possession?

"I'll call on Percy Paget, and see what he has to say," he thought.
"Perhaps I can make him confess how he obtained the bill, and make the
amount good to Mr. Dic