Dr. Thorp smiled. He was amused to hear one whom he believed to be a professional thief discourse in this manner.
"You might find it dull," he said, a little satirically, "It would lack the spice and excitement of wickedness."
At a little after eleven Kirby signified that he was tired and was conducted to his bed-chamber. Dr. Thorp remained behind, and opening the lower drawer of his cabinet removed therefrom a roll of bank bills and a five hundred dollar government bond.
"I think these will be safe in my trunk to-night," he said to himself. "Now, Mr. Kirby, you can explore the cabinet at your leisure. I doubt if you will find enough to repay you for your trouble."
Kirby occupied a chamber just over the sitting-room. He didn't undress himself, but threw himself on the bed to snatch a little rest.
"I found out very cleverly where the doctor kept his bonds," he soliloquized. "He is an innocent, unsuspicious man, luckily for me. So no thieves or burglars ever visit Carterville," he repeated with a soft laugh. "The good doctor would have been mightily surprised had he known the character of the man with whom he was talking. It is hardly a credit to take in a simple-minded man like the doctor. I very much regret the necessity of repaying his hospitality as I shall, but I need the bonds more than he does."
Kirby did not allow himself to sleep. There was important work to be done, and he must not run the risk of oversleeping himself.
He waited impatiently till he heard the public clock strike midnight, then taking off his shoes descended in his stocking feet to the sitting-room. There stood the cabinet plainly visible in the glorious moonlight that flooded the room, making artificial light unnecessary.
"It's an easy job for a man of my experience to open it," thought Kirby. "I hope the doctor is sound asleep. He looks like a man who is safe to sleep all night."