"Was Peter Manson—the man you see before you."
"It is false," said the miser, turning ghastly pale.
"Moreover," said Randall, "I was well paid for the service. I received a thousand dollars."
"Oh, oh!" cried the old man, swaying backward and forward—"a thousand dollars in bright gold, and I so poor."
"You see he admits it," said Randall.
"And what did he want Charlie carried away for?"
"Reason enough for that. He feared the boy might learn that it was his wealth which he has been hoarding up."
"Mine!" exclaimed Charlie, in unbounded surprise.
"Did you never hear your mother speak of a certain Peter Thornton, who by purloining and making off with twenty thousand dollars caused your grandfather to fail?"