"I am going into the saloon, but if you care to remain outside I have no objection as long as you are careful. I feel a certain responsibility about you, as you are not used to traveling."
"Thank you, sir."
Dean would have been more grateful if he had believed what Mr. Kirby was saying, but, young and inexperienced though he was, he did not take much stock in the sudden interest shown in him. He had not noticed that Mr. Kirby felt any particular solicitude about him in New York, though there were plenty of scrapes that he might have got into there.
Peter Kirby went back into the saloon, and soon after Dean followed. He again sought the book table.
"Well," said Dan, pleasantly, "have you found out the robber?"
Dean shook his head.
"Do you know, or did you hear, whether the stolen watch was in a box?" he asked.
"Yes, I heard Mr. Margrave say that it was in a white pasteboard box. Have you found the box?"
"No," answered Dean. He did not feel at liberty to tell what he had seen, but it confirmed him in the idea that his employer, Peter Kirby, was the robber of the stateroom.
At ten o'clock Mr. Kirby came up to him.