“Now where did I put them?” murmured the old man. “If I had only stuck them in some book, I’d be sure to remember them.”
At this Tom gave an exclamation.
“What’s the matter?” asked Dr. Spidderkins.
“The book!” cried the boy. “Don’t you remember? You put the papers under a volume of Fielding!”
For, like a flash, it had occurred to the boy what the doctor had done with the documents, and Tom recalled the mistake he had made about the book—thinking it had to do with baseball.
“Oh, yes, of course. Now I remember,” cried Dr. Spidderkins. “That’s where they are. I knew I would remember. I’ll get them at once.”
He went to where the book was. He had no difficulty in recalling where any volume, among his several thousand, was located on the shelves.
“Here is the book,” he said. “A very rare edition. Now the papers——” Then a blank look came over his face. “The papers are gone!” he exclaimed.
CHAPTER XXIII
DR. SPIDDERKINS IS ANGRY
“Perhaps I made a mistake, and that wasn’t the book,” remarked Tom.