“Which?” whispered Varrell. Never had he envied his classmate’s quick hearing as at this very instant.
Dick applied his ear to the door on the right. He could dimly hear the distant cheering, a formless, threatening sound drifting in through the open windows of the room, like the far-away roar of an angry mob. Within the room all was silent.
He shook his head and tiptoed to the other door. Here too his ear at first detected no sound that did not come from without, but presently he heard footsteps on the other side of the room, and a grating noise as from the opening of a drawer.
“He’s here,” said Melvin’s lips. His nod and gesture would have told the story to a fool. Varrell motioned him aside and gently turned the knob. The door moved slightly on its hinges.
“Ready?” queried Varrell’s eyes. Dick nodded, and Varrell threw wide the door. There stood the long pursued, before the open drawer of a dressing table, with a pair of gold cuff-buttons in his hand.
Bosworth gave a start and wheeled round upon the intruders. He uttered no sound, but his eyes took on a wild, frightened look, while his sallow face faded to a paler shade and the red line of his lips became a whitish blue, as he faced the fierce looks of his two pursuers.
“So we’ve caught the thief at last,” said Varrell, sternly, “this time in the very act.”
Bosworth moistened his lips. “If you think I’m a thief, you’re greatly mistaken,” he began, rolling his eyes from side to side like a person searching for ideas under a great strain.
“We don’t think; we know,” answered Varrell. “There’s stolen property right in your hand.”
For a moment Bosworth hesitated, looking down. When he lifted his eyes again he was ready with an explanation. “I was just looking at them. I came in here to get a trot I lent to Morton. I couldn’t stand the strain of the game, so I decided to come back and work. I thought probably the door would be unlocked, and I could get the book for myself. I opened the drawer to see if the book was there,—it isn’t the kind of thing a fellow would show on his study table,—the buttons caught my eye, and I took them up out of curiosity.”