“Mine—in the bank. Did you think it was not mine, Thomas?” The old man looked at his son, and Tommy could see neither reproach nor accusation in his father's eyes.
“What else could I think?” said Tommy. “What else have I thought—”
Mr. Leigh held up a hand to check his son's speech.
“Wait! Remember my exact words. When I told you what my salary from the bank was and how you had cost me seventeen thousand dollars, you asked me how I did it.”
“Yes. And you said—”
“Wait! I asked you in return what an old and trusted bank employee usually did when he spent more than he received from the bank.”
“Yes; but you knew I naturally understood—”
“Wait! You assumed, as you say, naturally, that I had taken the money from the bank.”
“What else—”
“That I had stolen the money?”