t she'd take and put it in some bank or somewhere
unbeknown to me, and I should be farther off it than ever."

"Haven't you got no idea?" said Mr. Chase.

"Not the leastest bit," said the other. "I never thought for a moment
she was saving money. She's always asking me for more, for one thing;
but, then women alway do. And look 'ow bad it is for her--saving money
like that on the sly. She might grow into a miser, pore thing. For 'er
own sake I ought to get hold of it, if it's only to save her from
'erself."

Mr. Chase's face reflected the gravity of his own.

"You're the only man I can trust," continued Mr. Teak, "and I thought if
you came as lodger you might be able to find out where it is hid, and get
hold of it for me."

"Me steal it, d'ye mean?" demanded the gaping Mr. Chase. "And suppose
she got me locked up for it? I should look pretty, shouldn't I?"

"No; you find out where it is hid," said the other; "that's all you need
do. I'll find someway of getting hold of it then."

"But if you can't find it, how should I be able to?" inquired Mr. Chase.

"'Cos you'll 'ave opportunities," said the other. "I take her out some
time when you're supposed to be out late; you come 'ome, let yourself in
with your key, and spot the hiding-place. I get the cash, and give you
ten-golden-sovereigns--all to your little self. It only occurred to me
after Bert told me about it, that I ain't been in the house alone for
years."

He ordered some more beer, and, drawing Mr. Chase to a bench, sat down to
a long and steady argument. It shook his faith in human nature to find
that his friend estimated the affair as a twenty-pound job, but he was in
no position to bargain. They came out smoking twopenny cigars whose
strength was remarkable for their age, and before they parted Mr. Chase
was pledged to the hilt to do all that he could to save Mrs. Teak from
the vice of avarice.

It was a more difficult undertaking than he had supposed. The house,
small and compact, seemed to offer few opportunities for the concealment
of large sums of money, and after a fortnight's residence he came to the
conclusion that the treasure must have been hidden in the garden. The
unalloyed pleasure, however, with which Mrs. Teak regarded the efforts
of her husband to put under cultivation land that had lain fallow for
twenty years convinced both men that they were on a wrong scent. Mr.
Teak, who did the digging, was the first to realize