They burned the store, he said, to cover their theft. All the money found he claimed was given to Mr. Simmons, together with some articles that would not excite suspicion. Among the latter was the knife Fred discovered in Jacob's possession, and which led to the detection of the guilty parties.
"Did you give Jacob Simmons all the goods you took from the store?" asked the judge.
"No, sir. We were afraid he would suspect us, so we gave him only a few things besides the money," answered Tim. "We hid the other things in the pine grove."
"Are they there yet?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then you didn't make up the full three hundred dollars for Jacob Simmons?"
"No; but Matthew promised to pay him the balance, so he agreed to do nothing further."
It could not be shown that Jacob Simmons had directly incited the boys to commit the robbery, though he was unquestionably the cause of it. Neither could it be proved that he had knowingly received stolen goods.
The narrative of the legal proceedings would be entirely out of the design of this story. I will therefore state merely the final results.
In view of the fact that Tim Short confessed his guilt, and that he was the tool of Matthew De Vere, he was saved from going to prison, and was sent instead to serve three years in the State reform school, where he was compelled to learn a trade, and to conform to a rigid disciplinary system.