When he had finished he only said one word, "wonderful!" but kept repeating it as he watched the cashier devouring the contents of the letter.
"Did you ever hear of such a marvelous coincidence in your life, Goodwyn? Here, just after these papers are lost, and suspicion is turned upon Richard, he and his mother fall heir to a neat little sum of money. My boy, I want to beg your pardon for suspecting that this incident only added to the weight of circumstantial evidence against you. You have proven entirely innocent in so far as this money is concerned. We will forget all about that now, and answer me a few more questions, if you please, about that fatal day when this deplorable accident came about that threatens to cause us so much trouble. Depend upon it we shall straighten it out, and no matter who is guilty they will be punished."
Still, when Mr. Gibbs said this, he did not frown and look at Dick as though the threat was meant for him at all; no matter what the cashier thought, the head of the establishment seemed to be ready to pin his faith on the messenger boy, as though his ability to read character told him there could be no guile in those clear eyes that looked straight into his own.
After a little while Dick was allowed to go.
He had answered every question to the best of his ability, and he wondered if after all the suspicions of the president could have been directed in the same quarter as his own.
All that day he held his counsel, and said nothing to any one about what was passing in his mind.
Matters went on just as usual in the bank, for not a whisper about the missing securities had gotten out; though this immunity could not be expected to continue long; for Mr. Graylock would have to explain to his creditors, who were gathering like a flock of buzzards about the carcass of a dead cow, how it came he could not raise the large sum of money he had promised to have ready to liquidate a proportion of their claims, and then the public must know what had happened.
Dick wondered also if he would be able to hold his head just as erect when he fancied people on the street were pointing at him and whispering significantly.