"Well," he said, "I think well of both."
"I had some government bonds at one time," said Kirby, "but they were stolen. That has made me cautious."
"Perhaps you were careless."
"No doubt I was. I kept them in a trunk at my boarding-house. I presume you wouldn't venture, even in a quiet village like this, to keep bonds in your house?"
"Oh, yes, we never receive visits from thieves or burglars. I don't consider trunks so safe as—that cabinet."
He pointed to a black walnut cabinet with several drawers standing in one corner of the room.
Kirby's face lighted up. He had got the information he desired, but he resumed his indifferent manner.
"I think you are right," he said. "Besides, in a town like Carterville, as you say, thieves are hardly likely to be found."
"Oh, dear, no!" said Dr. Thorp yawning. "I have no occasion to borrow trouble on that score."
"Living as I generally do in large cities where members of the criminal class abound," said Kirby, "I am naturally more suspicious than you. I confess I wish I lived in a place of Arcadian innocence like this."