"We can do nothing, and decide upon nothing," he said, "till we see Carver. He went on to Boston, I conclude?"
"Yes, sir."
"He will be back to-morrow. We must watch the trains, and intercept him."
Leaving this worthy trio in Portland, we follow Ephraim Carver to Boston. As the cars sped on their way, he felt an uneasy excitement as he thought of his treachery, and he feared he should look embarrassed when he was called to account by the Boston bank officials. But there was a balm in the thought of the substantial sum he was to receive as the reward of his wrongdoing. That, he thought, would well repay him for the bad quarter of an hour he would pass in Boston.
"Five thousand dollars! Five thousand dollars!" This was the burden of his thoughts as he considered the matter. "It will make me independent. If I can keep my post, I will, and I can then afford to be faithful to the bank. If they discharge me, I will move away, for my living without work, and having money to spend, would attract suspicion if I continued to live in Chester. Somewhere else I can go into business for myself. I might stock a small dry-goods store, for instance. I must inquire into the chances of making a living at that business."
So, in spite of his treachery, Ephraim Carver, on the whole, indulged in pleasing reflections, so that the railroad journey seemed short.
Arrived in Boston, he found that he had just time to go to the bank and deliver his parcel within banking hours.
"I may as well do it, and have it over with," he said to himself.
So, with a return of nervousness, which he tried to conceal by outward indifference, he made his way to the bank to which he was commissioned.