She laughed. “You don’t mean that he suspects who has the money? That’s——”
“He’s got it figgered out that Billy Gee had it with him when he come to our place—an’ he’s dead right, let me tell you. When I deelivered that—the cuss to Bob Warburton that mornin’, he didn’t have no more’n five dollars on him. I know, ’cos I seen Bob search him. Sangerly says he cached the twenty thousand on the ranch.” He paused and added in low, confidential tones: “Say, Dot, you don’t happen to know about it, do you? You seen his saddlebags, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she replied evenly. “He had his saddlebags with him, and when I asked him what they contained, he said simply that he always carried his mother’s picture and some keepsakes along with him. He may have left them in the barn—forgotten them. I really couldn’t say. Did you look?”
“No, goldarn it! I wisht now I’d hunted around for ’em. I reckon Sangerly’ll find them. But, anyhow I’m glad you ain’t goin’ to git mixed up in this mess, hon. It’d be turrible! The paper’d print yore name, an’ mebby yore pitcher’d git in, an’—jest think what a disgrace it’d be! Like as not, you’d git chucked out o’ school. Folks’d talk awful, you bein’ c’nnected up with a train robber. An’ no matter what you’d say wouldn’t do no good. People’d turn up their nose an’ say, ‘She’s no better’n he is.’” He glanced at his watch and got to his feet. “All right, we’ll send for Agatha. What’ll we tell her?”
Between them they worded the telegram, Dot writing it; and presently he left the room with it, bound for the hotel office.
Once alone, the girl began again to ponder on what she should do with the fortune she had wrapped in her mother’s old silk shawl. Ever since their arrival in San Francisco, her interest in other things had, for the time being, surmounted the responsibility and concern she felt as the unwilling custodian of this large sum of stolen money. Her father’s words now recalled the question to her in a most vivid way.
It had all seemed so easy on the train—merely the inconvenience of going to the police station, sheriff’s office, or postmaster, turning the loot over to one of the three, with the information that it represented what Billy Gee had stolen from the paymaster of the Mohave & Southwestern Railroad, and that she wished it returned to the company.
Here and now, however, amidst all this great city’s mad rush and confusion, she shrank from taking this step. After due reflection, it struck her that in all probability she would be closely questioned, and the fearful notion grew on her that there was more than a likelihood that she would be arrested as an accomplice; she had heard of just such things having been done. And, even as her father had said, there was the notoriety she was of a certainty to receive in the newspapers. Yes, everybody would believe she was a friend of this man whose name stood for lawlessness. They might believe she was—— She shivered at the thought. What, then, must she do to save the romantic situation for herself?
Racking her brains, she sat down and finally hit on another solution. She would wait until Mrs. Liggs arrived. She would confide in this dear little old lady, who had been like a mother to her, tell her everything, and ask her advice. Mrs. Liggs would understand and help her.
Shortly afterward, Lemuel returned with the proposal that they attend a theater, and finish the night with a sight-seeing trip through Chinatown.