"And I'm glad you made them pay up on the spot," he said. "For if
those circus people had been allowed to leave town I would never have
gotten a cent."

And to show his gratitude, he bought a razor and strop for himself,
and a pair of scissors for his wife.

"There will not be much doing now until evening," said Andy to Matt.
"So we will have dinner and then one of us can deliver those articles
that lady bought."

"I'll deliver the stuff, Andy. I fancy the walk will brace me up more
than anything else would."

"Well, go on then," said Andy, and so, after he had had dinner, Matt
set out with the bundle of goods under his arm.

The way to the lady's house led past the circus, and with a natural
curiosity to see what was going on, Matt pushed his way through the
crowd to where a number of banners were stretched containing vivid
pictures of the many wonderful sights which the ticket seller said
could be seen within.

The boy was much interested in the slick way of speaking which the
ticket seller had, and to "gain points," as he called it, for the
auction business, he remained almost an hour listening to all that was
said.

He was about to leave the crowd when a well-dressed man who was
standing beside him pushed him a bit to one side, and then stooped to
pick something from the ground at Matt's feet.

It was a large pocket-book, and apparently well filled.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE CONFIDENCE MAN.

"By Jove! look at that!" cried the man, in a low tone, as he picked up
the pocket-book and surveyed it. "That's a find, isn't it?"

"It is, indeed," returned Matt. "How much is there in it?"

"Come with me and I'll see," said the man, and without waiting for
Matt to offer a reply, he caught the boy by the arm, and forced him
through the crowd to an open spot behind a large tree.

"I would like to know who lost this," went on the man, as he opened
the flap of the pocket-book, and gazed inside at the contents. "By
Jove! look at that pile of bills!" he went on, as he turned the
pocket-book around so that Matt might catch sight of what certainly
did look like twenty-five or thirty bank bills tucked away in one of
the pockets. "Must be a hundred dollars or more in it."

"The owner of that pocket-book will miss it," returned Matt. "You
ought to make an effort to find him."

"Of course! of course!" assented the man heartily. "I don't want to
keep anybody's money--not if I know it is theirs. Let me see if there