but the taste did not please him. He set down
the glass, but his host drained his at a draught.

"Don't you like it?" asked Brown.

"Not very much."

"Don't you care to drink it?"

"I guess not."

"It's a pity it should be wasted."

To prevent this, Mr. Brown emptied Sam's glass also.

"Now, if you are not sleepy, we might have a game of cards," suggested
Brown.

"I think I'd rather go to bed," said Sam, yawning.

"All right! Go to bed any time. I dare say you are tired. Do you go to
sleep easily?"

"In a jiffy."

"Then you won't mind my absence. I've got to make a call on a sick
friend, but I shan't be out late. Just make yourself at home, go to
sleep, and you'll see me in the morning."

"Thank you, sir."

"Don't bolt the door, as I don't want to wake you up when I come in."

"All right."

Again Mr. Brown went out, and Sam undressed and got into bed. It was
not very comfortable, and the solitary sheet looked as if it had not
been changed for three months or more. However, Sam was not
fastidious, and he was sleepy. So he closed his eyes, and was soon in
the land of dreams.

It was about two hours afterward that Clarence Brown entered the room.
He walked on tiptoe to the bed, and looked at Sam.

"He's fast asleep," he said to himself. "Did he undress? Oh, yes, here
are his clothes. I'll take the liberty of examining his pockets, to
see whether my trouble is likely to be rewarded."

Brown explored one pocket after the other. He found no pocket-book,
for Sam did not possess any. In fact he had never felt the need of one
until he appropriated the deacon's money. The balance of this was
tucked away in his vest-pocket.

"Six dollars and ten cents," said Brown, after counting it. "It isn't
much of a haul, that's a fact. I thought he had twice as much, at the
least. Still," he added philosophically, "it's better than nothing. I
shall find a use for it without doubt."

He tucked the money away in his own pocket, and sat on the edge of the
bedstead in meditation.

"I may as well go to bed," he reflected. "He won't find out his loss
in the night, and in the morning I can be off before he is up. Even if
I oversleep myself, I can brazen it out. He's only a green country
boy. Probably he won't suspect me, and if he does he can prove
nothing."

He did not undress, but lay down on the bed dressed as he was. He,
too, was soon asleep, and Sam, unconscious of his loss, slept on. So
the money was doubly sto