He held his head erect and walked as firmly as though honors had been showered upon him, instead of his being under suspicion of having stolen valuable securities held in trust by the bank.
Mr. Graylock had claimed that he intended to borrow enough on these papers to tide him through his present difficulties; personally, however, the cashier knew that he was in so deep that even this large amount would only have stayed the inevitable for a short time.
Dick, of course, did not know this fact, and having heard the owner of the big store declare that he would be ruined by his loss, he could not help but feel a certain amount of pity for him.
His mind was in a whirl as he walked home, and in the maze he seemed to be trying to grasp something that continually eluded him, something that if he could only capture it might give him a clue as to the solution of the mystery.
Like Mr. Goodwyn, the sudden shock had disconcerted him, and he seemed to be in somewhat of a fog as to the happenings of that day; resolutely he set himself to the task of straightening things out, and going over every little incident that had occurred while he was eating his lunch and the two men were talking in the adjoining room.
He had not dared mention this fact as yet to Mr. Goodwyn, for, on its face, he feared that it would only serve to make his case more serious; since the fact would become evident that he knew the value of the papers in the packet.
He had just reached the point where he took that one peep through the little knothole, and saw Mr. Graylock buttoning up his coat, with that inscrutable look on his thin face, when he arrived home, and found his mother awaiting him.
To his surprise she was smiling as though unusually happy, and this was so unexpected that it gave him a pang to remember how he must bring new shadows upon her heart by telling how he was suspected of having done a terrible thing.
"Good news, Dick, guess what it is?" she exclaimed, as she fondly caught him in her arms and kissed him.
"Not the resumption of paying dividends by that company?" he asked.