"I'm glad you have made it," Hazelton replied, heartily. "There is a little matter between you an' I which yet remains to be settled, and when that has been done you should be considerably better off."
"I don't want you to do a thing," Teddy said, quickly. "So many people have helped me since the fair opened that it seems as if I was nothing more or less than a beggar."
"You come very far from deserving that title," the fakir replied, and then the entrance of Mr. Reaves interrupted the conversation. After talking with the lawyer, the merchant said to Teddy:
"I am more than pleased to learn that you will be freed from all your troubles in a short time. Next week I shall be in need of a clerk, and if you wish to take the situation it shall be left open until you are ready to go to work. The wages are six dollars a week for the first year, with an increase as soon as you can earn it, and I will really be pleased to have you in my employ."
"I'd like to come," Teddy replied; "but it don't seem just right to leave mother."
"There is no necessity of doing so. You can ride back and forth on the stage, unless your mother should decide, as I think she will eventually, to make her home in Waterville."
"If she approves of the plan I'll come to work next week."
"Make it two weeks, so that there'll be plenty of time to arrange matters, and I will expect you," the merchant replied in a tone which showed that he was more than satisfied with the arrangement. "I only came over to see if you needed any assistance; but Mr. Harvey says you'll soon be free from the charge your uncle made, therefore I will go back at once."
About an hour after the merchant departed Sam and the constables returned with Phil and the stolen goods.
The amateur detective was in the best possible spirits, and now that the burglar had been apprehended through his assistance the boy felt absolutely certain he was the greatest detective in the country.