id--I
did."

"Jed! Of course you didn't. I know you didn't. I KNOW. Gracious
king, man, be sensible."

"I did! I did! I found it and now I give it back to you. What
more do you want, Sam Hunniwell? Ain't that enough?"

"Enough! It's a darned sight too much. I tell you I know you
didn't find it."

"But I did."

"Rubbish! In the first place, you and I hunted every inch behind
those boards the very day the money was missin', and 'twa'n't there
then. And, besides, this isn't the money I lost."

"Well--well, what if 'tain't? I don't care. I--I know 'tain't.
I--I spent your money."

"You SPENT it? When? You told me you only found it this mornin'."

"I--I know I did, but 'twan't so. I--I--" Jed was in an agony of
alarm and frantic haste. "I found your money two or three days
ago. Yes, sir, that's when I found it. . . . Er. . . er . . ."

"Humph! Why didn't you tell me you found it then? If you'd found
it what made you keep runnin' into the bank to ask me if I'D found
it? Why didn't you give it back to me right off? Oh, don't be so
ridiculous, Jed."

"I--I ain't. It's true. I--I didn't give it back to you because--
because I--I thought first I'd keep it."

"Keep it? KEEP it? Steal it, do you mean?"

"Yes--yes, that's what I mean. I--I thought first I'd do that and
then I got--got kind of sorry and--and scared and I got some more
money--and now I'm givin' it back to you. See, don't you, Sam?
That's the reason."

Captain Sam shook his head. "So you decided to be a thief, did
you, Jed?" he said, slowly. "Well, the average person never'd have
guessed you was such a desperate character. . . . Humph! . . .
Well, well! . . . What was you goin' to do with the four hundred,
provided you had kept it? You spent the money I lost anyway; you
said you did. What did you spend it for?"

"Oh--oh, some things I needed."

"Sho! Is that so? What things?"

Jed's shaking hand moved across his chin.

"Oh--I--I forget," he faltered. Then, after a desperate struggle,
"I--I--I bought a suit of clothes."

The effort of this confession was a peculiar one. Captain Sam
Hunniwell put back his head and roared with laughter. He was still
laughing when he picked up his hat and turned to the door. Jed
sprang from his seat.

"Eh? . . . You're not GOIN', are you, Sam?" he cried. The
captain, wiping his eyes, turned momentarily.

"Yes, Jed," he said, chokingly, "I'm goin'. Say, if--if you get