I was quite sure it had not been taken from me. Strange as it may seem, neither Parsons nor Booth had searched me. Perhaps they deemed it useless to take away the possessions of a poor country boy. My jack-knife and other odds and ends were still in their accustomed places.
"It's gone!" I gasped, when I was certain that such was a fact.
"Gone?" repeated Kate.
"Yes, gone, and I don't know where. They didn't take it from me. I must have lost it."
"Oh, Roger, and it was so important!"
"I know it, Kate. It must have dropped from my pocket down at the tool house. Perhaps if I go down I can find it."
"Go down?" she queried.
"Oh, I forgot I was a prisoner."
"Never mind, Roger. I'll go down myself."
"Aren't you afraid?"