n the house.

"The coast is clear," he said, joyfully. "Now if the key only fits."

He went to his aunt's sitting room, and, not anticipating any
interruption, directed his steps a once to the small table, from a
drawer in which he had seen Mrs. Merton take the morocco pocketbook.
He tried one key after another, and finally succeeded in opening the
drawer. He drew it out with nervous anxiety, fearing that the
pocket-book might have been removed, in which case all his work would
have been thrown away.

But no! Fortune favored him this time, if it can be called a favor.
There, in plain sight, was the morocco pocketbook. Harold, pale with
excitement, seized and opened it. His eyes glistened as he saw that it
was well filled. He took out the roll of bills, and counted them.
There were five ten-dollar bills and three fives--sixty-five dollars
in all. There would have been more, but Mrs. Merton, before going out,
had taken four fives, which she intended to use.

It was Harold's first theft, and he trembled with agitation as he
thrust the pocketbook into his pocket. He would have trembled still
more if he had known that his mother's confidential maid and
seamstress, Felicie Lacouvreur, had seen everything through the
crevice formed by the half-open door.

Felicie smiled to herself as she moved noiselessly away from her post
of concealment.

"Master Harold is trying a dangerous experiment," she said to herself.
"Now he is in my power. He has been insolent to me more than once, as
if he were made of superior clay, but Felicie, though only a poor
servant, is not, thank Heaven, a thief, as he is. It is a very
interesting drama. I shall wait patiently till it is quite played
out."

In his hurry, Harold came near leaving the room with the table drawer
open. But he bethought himself in time, went back, and locked it
securely. It was like shutting the stable door after the horse was
stolen. Then, with the stolen money in his possession, he left the
house. He did not wish to be found at home when his aunt returned.

Harold had sixty-five dollars in his pocket--an amount quite beyond
what he had ever before had at his disposal--but it must be admitted
that he did not feel as happy as he had expected. If he had come by it
honestly--if, for instance, it had been given him--his heart would
have beat high with exultation, but as it was, he walked along with
clouded brow. Presently he ran across one of his friends, who noticed
his