He was surprised at the size of it. By the aid of a gouge, or some other sharp instrument, the inside of the hole had been cut away until a cavity had been formed that would hold a quart or more; and in this were two or three small packages, done up in brown paper. Godfrey opened his knife and poked them out one by one. The first contained the greenbacks of which he was in search. He counted them over carefully, and was greatly disappointed and surprised to find that the whole amount was only three dollars and twenty-five cents. But even that sum was more than he could often call his own, and his fingers closed tightly about it as if he feared that it might somehow slip away from him and be lost. The other packages contained powder, lead and a box of caps. These were all useful to Godfrey, who put them into the pocket that had the smallest holes in it, and after replacing the pin and driving it into the hole with a blow of his hand, walked away, well satisfied with the discovery he had made.
Dan was not so smart as he thought he was. His father had known for along time that he had a secret hiding place for all the various little odds and ends that came into his hands, and when Dan went to harness the mule, the suspicious glances he cast about and his stealthy actions, made Godfrey believe that he had only to watch him to find out where that hiding place was. There was a convenient opening in the rear wall of the cabin, that had been formed by the “chinking” falling out, and through this hole Godfrey watched all Dan’s movements. As long as Dan remained at the corn-crib, Godfrey kept his eye at the opening; but when the boy came toward the cabin, he left it, and passing quickly across the floor and out at the door, seated himself on the bench and took up the position he had occupied when Dan last saw him. When his son, satisfied with his reconnoissance, went back to the corn-crib, Godfrey again entered the cabin and stationing himself at the hole in the rear wall, saw everything that was done. He was highly delighted with the success of his little stratagem. The money was in his possession now, and besides he had secured ammunition enough to last him a month.
“The amazin’ ongrateful an’ ondutiful chap, to hide things from his poor ole dad in sich a scandalous way as that ar,” said Godfrey, giving his pocket a slap. “He wouldn’t lend it to me to take keer of it fur him, an’ now I’ve got it anyhow. But how came he by it, is what I’d like to know. Don’t stand to reason that Silas Jones give it to him, kase he hain’t been a doin’ no work for Silas—no, I’ll warrant he hain’t. Dan takes arter his pop, and is too much of a gentleman to do anything like work when he can get outen it.”
How Dan came by the money in the first place was a matter that interested and perplexed Godfrey not a little. He seated himself on the bench again, and smoked up two or three pipes of store tobacco while he was thinking about it. But he could come to no conclusion, although he kept his mind busy until the creaking of the wagon wheels announced that Dan was coming back. Then Godfrey had other matters to think of. He expected a stormy scene with his son when the latter discovered that his money had been removed from its hiding place, and he prepared for it by going into the cabin and placing the rawhide where he could find it at a moment’s warning. Then he pushed back his sleeves, seated his remnant of a hat firmly on his head, and seated himself on the bench again to await Dan’s approach.
“Yer mam hain’t come hum yet, Dannie,” said he, when the boy had arrived within speaking distance. “She’s allers away when she’d oughter be here tidyin’ up things, an’ makin’ the house look as though white folks lived here; but we won’t wait fur her. Ye can cook as well as any woman, Dannie, an’ we’ll have some of that fresh meat to onct.”
Dan made no reply in words. He put his hand into his pocket and looked at his father; whereupon the latter arose and glanced into the wagon. It was empty.
“Whar’s the meat?” he demanded, angrily.
“It’s done sold,” was the reply.
For a moment Godfrey acted as if he were about to go off into an awful passion. He spread out his feet, clenched both his hands and began shaking them in the air. Then he jumped up, knocked his heels together, and having thus loosened his joints, was ready for action. Dan saw that the storm was coming, and made all haste to put himself out of the way of its fury, first by jumping out of the wagon on the opposite side, so that he would have a fair chance to run if he found it necessary, and second by trying to appease his father.
“Hain’t that the way to get rich, pop,—by takin’ money every chance ye get?” said he. “I got it an’ I saved it, too. Look a yer,” he added, pulling some bills out of his pocket, and extending them across the wagon toward his father.