"Yes, sir."
"What is it?"
"Excuse me, but I would like to speak to Percy first."
The squire drew up his lower lip and looked plainly annoyed.
"I do not allow my son to have any secrets from me, so you might as well speak out, Nelson," he observed, abruptly.
"I came to see Percy about a twenty-dollar bill which belonged to me, and which he obtained," returned Ralph, boldly.
"A twenty-dollar bill of yours Percy obtained? Why, Nelson, what do you mean? Come into the library."
"I mean what I say, Squire Paget," said the young bridge tender, following the great man of the village into the apartment mentioned. "Percy had a twenty-dollar bill belonging to me and he passed it off on Mr. Dicks, the storekeeper."
"But he could not have known it was your bill if he spent it."
"He ought to have known it was mine, sir."