ock."

"I have not heard of it. What kind of articles?"

"The boy is more artful than I thought!" soliloquized the merchant.

"All the articles missed," he proceeded, "have been from the room
in charge of Mr. Redwood, the room in which you, among others, are
employed."

Something in Mr. Goodnow's tone gave Rodney the hint of the truth. If he
had been guilty he would have flushed and showed signs of confusion.
As it was, he only wished to learn the truth and he in turn became the
questioner.

"Is it supposed," he asked, "that any one in your employ is responsible
for these thefts?"

"It is."

"Is any one in particular suspected?"

"Yes."

"Will you tell me who, that is if you think I ought to know?"

"Certainly you ought to know, for it is you who are suspected."

Then Rodney became indignant.

"I can only deny the charge in the most emphatic terms," he said. "If
any one has brought such a charge against me, it is a lie."

"You can say that to Mr. Redwood, for it is he who accuses you."

"What does this mean, Mr. Redwood?" demanded Rodney quickly. "What have
you seen in me that leads you to accuse me of theft."

"To tell the truth, Ropes, you are about the last clerk in my room
whom I would have suspected. But early this morning this letter was
received," and he placed in Rodney's hands the letter given in a
preceding chapter.

Rodney read it through and handed it back scornfully.

"I should like to see the person who wrote this letter," he said. "It is
a base lie from beginning to end."

"I thought it might be when Mr. Goodnow showed it to me," said Redwood
in an even tone, "but Mr. Goodnow and I agreed that it would be well to
investigate. Therefore I went to your room."

"When, sir?"

"This morning."

"Then it is all right, for I am sure you found nothing."

"On the contrary, Ropes, I found that the statement made in the letter
was true. On your bed was a bundle containing one of the cloaks taken
from our stock."

Rodney's face was the picture of amazement.

"Is this true?" he said.

"It certainly is. I hope you don't doubt my word."

"Did you bring it back with you?"

"No; your worthy landlady was not quite sure whether I was what I
represented, and I left the parcel there. However I opened it in her
presence so that she can testify what I found."

"This is very strange," said Rodney, looking at his accuser with puzzled
eyes. "I know nothing whatever of the cloak and can't imagin