"Oh, I forgot to tell you about that," burst out Phil. "Less than four months after my uncle disappeared, some men were arrested in Springfield, for a theft committed at one of the banks there. During the trial it came out that one of these criminals had been in our town during the time when the funds disappeared from our trust company. This rascal's movements were traced by the authorities, and then he was given what they call 'the third degree.' At that examination he broke down, and admitted that he had taken the funds which my Uncle Lester was supposed to have stolen. The affair created a great stir, and those who had proceeded against my uncle made all sorts of apologies to my father. They also did their best to locate Uncle Lester."
"And didn't they hear anything at all?" asked Ben.
"Not a word. We got what we thought were clues, but every one of them proved false."
"Maybe he is dead."
"That may be. But if we can't prove it, it leaves the matter of the land just as unsettled as before."
"If your uncle is alive he must remember about the land, and must know that the matter will give your father a lot of trouble," suggested Roger.
"That is true, Roger. But when a man is accused of a grave crime like that, he isn't apt to think about other things."
"You say he is older than your father?" queried Dave.
"Oh, yes, a good deal older—ten or twelve years, at least. If he is still alive he must be well advanced in years."
"What does your father propose to do about the land?" questioned Ben, after a pause in the conversation.