"Yes!" he said, "yes! decidedly decent.—It is a pity some of our young men do not emulate him." His eyes came back to the Governor's. "Do you happen to have any of the money handy, sir?"
"You mean, the money he paid me?—I will lend it to you gladly, Maynadier."
"I do not want to borrow, thank you, Colonel," was the smiling answer. "I want simply to see it—the coins, I mean."
The Governor turned to his writing desk, unlocked a drawer, and, taking out a bag, passed it over.
"It is just as he gave it to me," he said; "indeed, I did not even count it, I took it on faith.—You do not think he tricked me, Maynadier?"
"Oh, no—not you. I want to see——"
He emptied the gold into a shining heap, on the table before him, and spread it out with his hands. There were guineas, pistoles, and Spanish doubloons, in all, making up the two hundred pounds.
"I want to see if there are any pieces which might be remembered—any—with—Ah!"—he picked out a doubloon, with a star and a crescent cut deep upon its face. "I wonder if Marbury can by any chance recall—I beg your pardon, Colonel! Marbury had some gold stolen during the house-party, at Hedgely Hall. He kept no list, but he might recognize this one, it is sufficiently distinctive, surely."
The Governor blew a cloud of smoke toward the ceiling and watched it slowly vanish.