“Don’t mind that. If there is anything to be said unfavorable of Ernest I ought to know it.”
“He says the boy robbed a store in which he was employed, and then pretended it was entered by thieves. It was on that account, he says, that the boy was compelled to leave the town where he lived and come to California.”
“Really, that is very interesting. To my own personal knowledge the boy was never before employed in a store, and he came out to California with me.”
“Then what could the man mean?”
“I can’t say. I can only tell you that he is a professional thief.”
“Look quick, Luke, and see if my gold watch is hanging on a nail near the cupboard.”
“Then the rascal must have stolen it. I gave him a Mexican dollar to buy some eggs at the store.”
“I don’t think you will ever see it again, unless I catch the thief, as I may to-night.”