"I know it, Mrs. Mason. It isn't about jewelry I wish to speak."
"What, then?"
"I met, to-day, a boy who was lately employed by our firm—Andrew Grant."
"Well?"
"He said you had recommended him to a real estate firm down town."
"I did so."
"Perhaps you didn't know that he had been discharged from our place for dishonesty."
"I begin to understand," thought Mrs. Mason, and she sat down and examined John curiously.
"Did he steal anything?"
"Yes, ma'am," answered John, glibly. "He took a watch—a gold watch out of the case and pawned it."