Rupert felt uneasy, for he knew that in an arrest like this he might not be able to clear himself.
"Why don't you ask the boy how much money there is in the purse?" continued the old lady.
"Well thought of. My boy, can you tell me what the purse contains?"
Rupert colored. He saw at once that he was in a tight place. He wished now that he had examined the purse when he left the house in Harlem.
"No," he answered. "I do not know."
"Didn't I tell you?" cried the old lady, venomously.
Even the lawyer looked surprised.
"How is it that you can't tell, if the purse is yours?" he asked.
"Because, sir, it was given me this evening by a gentleman in Harlem, and I have not yet had time to examine it."