“No, I have an engagement in Baltimore immediately upon the arrival of this train which I would not miss for a dozen such pocket-books.”
“Then you’ll have to take the money with you.”
“I wouldn’t feel just right about doing that,” returned the man with a bland smile. “I would feel like a thief. I’ll tell you what I will do,” he went on smoothly and earnestly. “Give me twenty 118 dollars, and you take the pocket-book. Perhaps you won’t be able to find an owner, and then the money will all be yours, and if you do find an owner, he will certainly offer more of a reward than twenty dollars.”
“I take the pocket-book?” said Matt, considerably surprised by the offer.
“Yes; I really can’t wait, and I do not feel satisfied to take that money with me.”
“But, supposing I do not find the owner, do you not want part of the money?”
“No; you can keep it all.”
This certainly seemed a very liberal offer, and had Matt had less experience of the world at large, he might have accepted on the spot. But the apparent open-heartedness of the stranger only served to make him more cautious.
“Let us count the money and see how much there is in the pocket-book,” he remarked, hardly knowing what else to say.
“No, I haven’t time to do that,” said the stranger hastily. “As it is, I have now barely ten minutes in which to get to the depot. If you want to accept my offer, give me the twenty dollars, and I’ll run for the depot.”