"I've got it," replied Leon, in a scarcely audible whisper, "and I came near being caught in the act, too. I had to wait until mother went into the kitchen; then I slipped into the bedroom, and had just taken the book out of the drawer when I heard her coming back. I tell you, I thought I should drop when she asked me what I was doing in there, and what made my face so pale. Whew!" added Leon, drawing his hand across his forehead. "It was a close call. I don't know how I shall manage to get that gun."
"Don't worry over it," answered Frank, who knew that everything depended upon keeping up his cousin's courage. "We can think about it when the time comes to secure the gun. If I see a chance, I'll get it for you myself."
The two boys were now anxious to leave the house with the least possible delay. They seemed to think that as long as they remained there they were in danger of being found out.
They hurried off to school as soon as they could find their caps, and during the whole of that forenoon lived in a state of excitement and fear that can hardly be described.
Leon's bank-book felt as heavy as lead in his pocket. Of course he felt guilty, and it seemed to him that the students sitting in his immediate vicinity stared at him a good deal, and with an expression on their faces which seemed to say that they knew all about it.
More than once Leon was on the point of backing squarely out and writing a note on his slate to his cousin, telling him he would not go; but every time he resolved upon this a neat little cabin in the mountains, with its luxurious beds of buffalo robes, joints of venison and bear-meat hanging from the rafters, and a couple of fleet Indian ponies feeding in the glade close by, would rise before his mental vision, and Leon would tell himself that it was worth while to run some risk, if, by so doing, he could live in that way.
Then there was his unhappy home—Leon did not consider that it was made so by his own acts; the gloomy school-room; the law against going outside the gate; the prohibition that had been laid upon his hunting for the rest of the season—all these things came into his mind, and Leon would shut his teeth hard and resolve again that he would carry out his plans, no matter what happened.
As the hour of twelve drew near, Leon became as nervous and frightened as he was when he stole the bank-book in the morning. The money must be drawn from the bank, and it must be drawn, too, before one o'clock, or not at all that day.
It would be dangerous to postpone this important matter, for his parents might discover that the book was gone from the drawer, and that would lead to an investigation. The sooner their plans were carried into execution, and they were safe out of town, the better it would be for them.
When school was dismissed, the two boys hurried down the street, keeping a good lookout on every side for Leon's father. The lawyer's office was over the bank, and they did not want to go in there after the money until they had satisfied themselves that he had gone home to his dinner.