"In my inside coat pocket; then I will button my coat over it."
"That's right; and don't unbutton the coat till you reach your own home."
The money was put away as Tom indicated, and, thanking his kind friend again, Tom bade him good-by and withdrew.
Chapter VI.
Tom Gordon could not be blamed for failing to note several suggestive occurrences during this memorable visit to Briggsville.
Seated on the porch of the hotel, while he was talking to the group of young persons and acquaintances, were two strangers, whose dilapidated dress, frowzy heads, and surly faces, showed they belonged to that pestiferous class of vagrants known as tramps. They sat apart, after taking a drink in the bar-room, and with scowling but interested looks listened to the chatter going on around them. It did not take them long to catch the drift of matters. They talked together in low tones, with furtive glances at the young hero, and kept their places, with a few muttered remarks that no one else could catch, while Tom was inside.
When the smiling lad reappeared, his friends besieged him with inquiries.
"Did he give you the money, Tom? How much is it?"
Being a sturdy boy, Tom naturally did not wish to appear too much elated over his good fortune.
"Yes," he replied, with an assumption of indifference; "he paid me the hundred dollars like a gentleman, and I've got it in my pocket."