``Is that the bill you spoke of, Walton?'' asked the tailor, on Harry's next visit to the shop.
``Yes,'' said Harry, eagerly. ``Where did you get it?''
``You can guess.''
``From Luke Harrison?''
``Yes;
he paid me, last evening, fifteen dollars on account of his bill. This note was among those he paid me.''
``It is mine. I can swear to it.''
``The rest of the money was yours, no doubt. It is in ones and twos. Luke has been caught in a trap.''
``What shall I do, Mr. Merrill?''
``The money is yours, and I will restore it to you after seeing Luke. I will send for him to be here at seven o'clock this evening.''
``Suppose he denies giving you the bill?''
``I am prepared for that.''
As Luke was at work in his shop that day, the tailor's boy came in with a note.
``This is for you, Luke,'' he said.
Luke opened it, and read as follows:
``Will you call at my shop at seven this evening, about the pants you ordered? HENRYMERRILL.''
``Tell your father I'll come,'' said Luke.
``I
suppose,'' he thought, ``Merrill wants to consult me about something. I hope he'll hurry them up.''
At seven o'clock he entered the tailor's shop once more.
``Well, Merrill, what do you want to see me about?'' he asked.
``Luke,'' said Mr. Merrill, looking him steadily in the eye, ``where did you get that money you paid me on account?''
``Where did I get the money?'' repeated Luke, flushing. ``From the man I work for, to be sure.''
``Will you swear to that?''
``Can't you take my word?''
``I may as well tell you that Harry Walton recognizes one of the bills as part of the money he lost the other evening.''
``He does, does he?'' said Luke, boldly. ``That's all nonsense. Bills all look alike.''
``This one has a drop of ink just in the center. He remembered having dropped a blot upon it one evening when he was writing a letter.''
``Do you mean to say I stole 'em?'' demanded Luke, angry, but also secretly frightened.
``It looks like it, unless you can explain how you came by the blotted bill.''
``I
don't believe I paid you the bill. Very likely it was someone else.''
``I
thought you would say that, so I called Coleman's attention to it as soon as you were gone. However, if your employer admits paying you the bills, of course you are all right.''
Luke remembered very well he was paid in fives, and that such an appeal would do him no good.
``Does Walton know this?'' he asked, sinking into a chair, and wiping the perspiration from his brow.
``Yes;
he suspected you, and asked me to look out for a blotted two.''
``I'd like to choke him!'' said Luke, fiercely. ``The miserly scoundrel!''
``It seems to me that he is quite justified in trying to recover his money. What have you done with the rest of it?''
``Tell me what will be done to me,'' said Luke, sullenly. ``I only picked it up when he dropped it in the road.''
``Why didn't you tell him you found it?''
``I
meant to give it to him after a while. I only wanted to keep it long enough to frighten him.''
``That was dangerous, particularly as you used it.''
``I
mean to give him back other money. I was hard up, and so I used it for a short time.''
``I
