As Andy made this remark he started to gather up some of his possessions that strewed the floor close to his suitcase, where they had been hastily thrown when the leather receptacle was emptied.
“Wait a minute,” said Rob, halting him in the work; “let’s take a general look around first. It seems to me as if they hadn’t gotten more than half-way through our trunk. That would indicate something had alarmed the thief, and caused him to leave in a hurry.”
“Oh, mebbe I’m not tickled nearly to death!” exclaimed Hiram, suddenly, beaming on the others as though he felt like shaking hands with himself over something.
“What about?” asked Tubby.
“I can give a guess,” said Rob. “It’s about the papers we left in the safe downstairs, eh, Hiram?”
“Just what it is, Rob,” admitted the other, continuing to show his pleasure. “Only for your smartness in getting me to deposit the packet with the clerk under a seal, it might have been in my bag right here. Say, I wonder now, if that was what the thief wanted?”
“But no one out here would suspect that you carried valuable papers, Hiram,” objected Rob.
“How do we know that?” asked the other, who had seized upon that explanation of the mystery, and saw no reason as yet to abandon his theory. “Didn’t I tell you how several companies I approached had men in their employ who tried to play smart games on me, so as to steal the fruits of my labor? Rob, you haven’t forgotten that unscrupulous Marsters, have you?”
“Why, no, but there’s a whole lot that would have to be explained about him before I could believe he had anything to do with this game,” Rob told him.
“Then you’re of the opinion it’s just an ordinary everyday hotel sneak thief who’s been looking through our stuff in hopes of finding some spare money hidden away in one of our grips, is that it, Rob?” and Andy started in once more to gathering up his scattered property, rubbing at the bosom of a shirt where it seemed to be marked with dirty fingers.