"Because you can earn it."
"How?"
"Shall I be blunt and plain?"
"It is always the best way."
"Very well, then," resumed the colonel desperately. "A certain unclaimed express package was sold here to-day, marked A.A. Adams. You've got it."
"How do you know that?"
"Oh, you know it and I want it. Hand it over, and here"—the colonel made a dive for his pocketbook—"here's your thousand dollars."
Bart made a signal of remonstrance with his hand, his face grave and decided.
"Stop right there, Colonel Harrington," he said forcibly. "Are you aware that you are offering a bribe to a bonded representative of the express company?"
"Rot take your express company!" growled the colonel angrily. "I am one of its stock-holders. I could buy the whole concern out, if I wanted to!"