“There’s where you are mistaken. You took your own risk by disobeying the rules——”
“The money was mine and the superintendent had no more right to touch it than you had,” interrupted Lester. “My father gave it to me with his own hands, because he wanted I should have a fund by me that I could draw on without asking anybody’s permission.”
“Well, you see what you made by it, don’t you? How do you know that Huggins has run away?”
“He told me he was going to. I offered to give him a dollar to help him along, and so did Jones and Williams.”
“You ought not to have done that.”
“I don’t care; I did it, and this is the way he repaid me. I’ll bet he had my money in his pocket when he refused my offer. I thought he acted queer, and so did the other boys.”
“Do you know which way he intended to go?”
“He said he was going to draw a bee-line for Oxford, and ship on the first vessel he could find that would take him to sea. Are you going after him?” inquired Lester, as Bert turned toward the door. “Look here: if you will follow him up and get my money back for me, I’ll—I’ll lend you five dollars of it, if you want it.”
Lester was about to say that he would give Bert that amount, but he caught his breath in time, and saved five dollars by it. He knew very well that Bert would never be obliged to ask him for money.