“He won’t be such a fool as to sit up with the corpse,” he muttered a little apprehensively. “That wouldn’t do no good.”
Apparently Ernest was of this opinion, for after carefully covering up the inanimate body he lay down again on his own bed.
He did not fall asleep immediately, for the thought that he was in the presence of death naturally affected his imagination. But gradually his eyes closed, and his full, regular breathing gave notice that he was asleep.
He had left the candle burning on the table. By the light which it afforded the tramp could watch him, and at the end of twenty minutes he felt satisfied that he could safely enter.
He lifted the window and passed into the room noiselessly. He had one eye fixed on the sleeping boy, who might suddenly awake. He had taken off his shoes and left them on the grass just under the window.
When Tom Burns found himself in the room he made his way at once to the trunk, which his watchful eye had already discovered.
“That’s where the old man keeps his gold, likely,” he muttered. “I hope it isn’t locked.”
Usually the trunk would have been fastened, but the conversation which Ernest had with old Peter so engrossed his mind as to make him less careful than usual. Tom Burns therefore had no difficulty in lifting the lid.
With eager fingers he explored the contents, and was not long in discovering the box which contained the two gold coins.
The discovery pleased and yet disappointed him.