The other noticed his manner, and he said to himself: “He is willing to have me visit Savannah. It is clear that Ernest did not die there.”
Benjamin Bolton left the house in a pleasant frame of mind. It was not the sum which he had received that exhilarated him. He looked upon it only as the first installment. It was clear that Stephen Ray feared him, for he was not an open-handed man, and would not have parted with his money unnecessarily.
Bolton had not arranged his campaign, but he was determined to raise himself in the world by playing on the fears of the man he had just visited.
“I wonder,” he said to himself, “whether Dudley Ray’s son is dead. If so the document is of no value, and though I should prefer to have it, I won’t insist. He was a strong and healthy boy, and he may still be living.”
This was a point not easy to ascertain.
He went to a restaurant and obtained a substantial meal, of which he stood very much in need. Then he went out for a stroll. He did not propose to leave the place yet.
As he was walking along he met Clarence Ray again, but not now on his wheel. The boy recognized him.
“Are you going to stay in town?” asked Clarence curiously.
“Not long.”
“Did you get through your business with pa?”