"I will pay him back some time, mother."
"You think then that we are justified in using it, Bert?"
"Uncle Jacob meant us to do so. Before it is gone I shall probably find something to do, and then I may gradually be able to pay back the money."
"In that case, Bert, I am afraid we must break into it to-morrow. Probably Mr. Jones can change it for us."
So it happened the next evening that Bert, with the kerosene can in his hand, went to the store, entering, as already described, just as Percy left it with the bill which he had purloined on the impulse of the moment.
"I would like two quarts of kerosene, Mr. Jones," said Bert, handing over the can.
The proprietor went to one corner of the store to fill the can, and brought it back.
"Please take your pay out of this," said Bert, handing him the twenty-dollar bill.
Mr. Jones started in surprise, and his face darkened ominously. He scanned the desk on which he remembered placing his own twenty-dollar bill, and it was nowhere to be seen.
"Why, you audacious young thief!" he exclaimed in a fury.