"That man at the counter is my employer."
"Humph! I don't like his looks. He seems to have plenty of money, though."
CHAPTER XVII.
AN EVENING AT NIBLO'S.
"I wish I knew whether that money I saw Mr. Kirby counting belonged to my poor uncle," thought Dean.
He didn't venture to take his boy friend into his confidence, for his suspicions, strong as they were, might prove to do his employer injustice. At any rate he resolved to keep on the lookout for additional evidence which might tend either to confirm or to disprove them.
If he had been present in the broker's office, he would have heard something to confirm the distrust he felt. When Peter Kirby was asked by the broker's clerk, as usual, his name, he hesitated for a second, then answered boldly "Renwick Bates." So in the broker's book the sale of bonds was recorded as having been made to Renwick Bates. Had the squire known this, he would have felt very angry with his confederate, as, in case the fifty-dollar notes were traced, his name would be involved.
Guy and Dean were taking supper at a restaurant not far from the hotel when Mr. Kirby came in and sat down at a table near them. Guy was the first to notice him.
"There's your respected employer, Dean," he said in a low voice.