"They were going to the public-house," he said.
"There's no public-house just here," said the woman, "and I can tell you this is not the place for you or your friends—if you have any. We're honest people here. Come, be off with you, or I'll call a policeman!"
Gus moved away feeling much disturbed. He could not bear to think that the woman looked upon him as a cheat, for he had been trained to strict honesty, and, in spite of what Dick had said, he was convinced that a gentleman should always act on the square. He walked on in the direction Lucas and his son had taken, wondering what had become of them. When he had gone a little distance they suddenly appeared before him, springing over a fence that skirted some fields.
"Well, boy, have you got my change?" asked Lucas.
Jack burst into a roar of laughter as Gus told his story, ending with the words, "I told her I was sure you did not know it was bad money."
Lucas laughed too for a moment, but seeing Gus' troubled look, he checked himself.
"Never mind, lad," he said, "you've done your best. I mean you could not help it, if the woman would have it, it was bad money."
"Wasn't it?" asked Gus eagerly.
"Of course it wasn't bad money," replied Lucas, laughing; "it was good money—very good money indeed."
Something in his manner made Gus uneasy. He began to be troubled with doubts concerning his new friends.