“We may as well—it is not far out of our way.”
When they arrived at the cottage they found that Mr. Chetwood and his wife had returned. The man was looking anxiously for them to appear.
“Git ’em?” he cried, when he caught sight of them.
“No,” answered Jack.
“I am sorry—dreffully sorry,” and Mr. Chetwood heaved a deep sigh.
“I believe they stole a vest belonging to you,” said George Strong. “Anything in it of value?”
“Yes and no,” was the reply. “You see, I had a roll of old Confederate money and I kept it in the vest—why, I don’t know. Well, the roll is gone.”
“What sort of bills did it contain?” questioned Pepper.
“Ten and twenty dollar bills—about two hundred dollars in all. But as they was Confederate I reckon they ain’t wuth ten or twenty cents now. You see I was a Confederate soldier in the war—that’s how I got the bills,” explained Mr. Chetwood.
“Those men are crazy,” said George Strong. “I may as well tell you they are distant relatives of mine—although I am in no wise responsible for their safe keeping. They have been in charge of another relative, who put them in a sanitarium. I suppose if they try to pass some of those Confederate bills they’ll get into more trouble.”