"What is the matter?" he asked, anxiously.
"I have been robbed," was the reply, in a hoarse whisper.
"How?"
"I don't know. Coming across the mountain I laid down on the land we wanted to buy, an' I fell asleep. When I awakened the money was gone, an' that is all I know about it."
"Money gone, eh?" the bookkeeper cried. "What did you want to buy land for?"
"That has nothing to do with the loss of the cash," Sam replied as he looked the man full in the face. "I lost the package which was given me at the bank, and have been hunting for it since noon."
"It will make considerable difference, as you'll find out before this thing is cleared up," and the cashier moved toward the door as if to prevent the boy from leaving the building. "Why not tell the truth, and say you stole the money?"
"Because I didn't do anything of the kind."
"Tell that to the marines, for you can't make me believe it. Thieves don't loaf around the mountain."
"They must have done so in this case, for I walked nearly back to Blacktown, and should have found the package if it had fallen from my pocket."