The farmer had heard what was being said, and immediately replied:
"If Jo was bent on robbery, p'raps he could have watched me some time, and seen where I hid that little tin box away in the attic. I used to go there once a week to add some money to the savings that I'd foolishly drawn out of bank long before I needed 'em, just to see how it felt to be rich for a little while."
"When was the last time you went up there to look at it?" Paul asked.
"Let me see, when Web Sterry paid me for the heifer I sold him I put the money away; and that was just ten days back."
"And it was all there then, you say?" questioned Paul.
"Surely," replied the farmer.
"Was Jo working near the house then, can you remember, sir?"
Mr. Rollins appeared to reflect.
"When was the day we did some carpenter work on that extension—as sure as anything it was the day Webb paid me! Yes, I remember, now, that Jo came around from his work on the plane, and told me Webb was there."
The farmer's excitement was increasing. Things, under the clever questioning of the young scoutmaster, seemed to be fitting in with each other, just as a carpenter dovetails the ends of a box together.