“This is stunning news you are giving me, Mr. Riley!” exclaimed Frank.
“I reckon it is, Frank,” replied the ex-foreman. “And the worst of it is, that I was never able to keep on the track of the three thieves; because these strikers ran me into the engine house here, and threatened me with a rope if I tried to show up again. So I’ve been stalled for hours; and all the time those robbers have been getting farther and farther away.”
“Do you know when it happened?” asked Bob, his lawyer nature coming to the front when the emergency arose.
“Two nights ago, I’ve got good reason to believe, from the signs,” answered Mr. Riley.
“But you didn’t know it right away; is that it?” asked Frank.
“I had so much to look after in other quarters that I didn’t take a peep in at the strong room until this morning. Then I was surprised to find that the place had been cleaned out. There was about two hundred pounds of gold in three strong sacks, and it was gone! I reckon it would add up to something like fifty thousand dollars’ worth, Frank!”
The late overseer looked haggard and glum. He acted as though he had had a hard time of late, with everything against him.
“Do you suspect any of the men employed here?” asked Bob.
“I did, but changed my mind. There isn’t a man missing, that I can see. I found the tracks of the three robbers, and the marks don’t tally with the boot-prints of any miner. They were made by men from civilization, who wore shoes of an up-to-date pattern.”
“But, Mr. Riley, how do you know all this, when we found you shut up here in the engine house?” asked Frank.