They found nothing beyond a handkerchief and a few odds and ends such as every schoolboy loves to carry; and a search of the trousers pockets only revealed a knife, a piece of tarred string, a wire puzzle, and a halfpenny, which might or might not have been taken from the till.
"Have you anything in your waistcoat pockets?" asked Mr. Broad.
"No," answered Jim promptly; "there's nothing—" He stopped suddenly, and his face turned very red.
"Well?" observed his master, and the boy felt how stern the voice had become.
"I forgot," he said; "there's a sixpenny piece, but it is my own."
Mr. Farrant smiled slightly, as the stationer, producing the coin, laid it on the counter.
"I notice that it is dated 1861," remarked he, "but that may be only a coincidence." Then he turned the coin over, and pointing to a spot at the back of the Queen's head, added sorrowfully, "This, however, is hardly a coincidence."
Jim's knees knocked together as he saw quite plainly the figure of a circle with a starred centre, similar to the one in the notebook. There could be no doubt that the coin was one of those which his master had marked.
"That settles it," remarked Mr. Farrant emphatically. "Come, Broad; you had better make short work of the matter. Give him two minutes, and if he doesn't own up, let me go for a policeman."
"I am afraid I must," said the stationer sadly.—"You see, Hartland, the thing's as plain as a pikestaff; and here," tapping the coin, "is the proof. You can't explain that away."