"Yes,—if you'll promise to tell me about the papers."
"I—I will."
Pompey was at once sent for a pitcher of fresh water, and when it arrived Hank Stiger grabbed it with both hands and drained it dry. Nectar could not have tasted sweeter to him.
"Now what did you do with the papers?" Amos Radbury asked, after Stiger had given a long sigh of satisfaction.
"I—I lost 'em."
Instantly Amos Radbury's face flushed, and he sprang to his feet.
"Stiger, you are falsifying! I do not believe you!" he exclaimed.
"It's de truf."
"It is not. You have either hidden the papers or else given them to somebody."
At this the half-breed shrugged his shoulders again.