“I wonder what he was putting into the coat,” he thought; but dismissed the thought as not concerning him till afterwards.
“Did he notice what I was doing?” thought John, with momentary uneasiness. “But, of course, he wouldn’t understand,” he felt, with quick relief.
A few minutes elapsed, and Gilbert returned, bringing home the mail.
“All right!” said Moore, “wait a minute, and I shall want to send you out again.”
“Oh, by the way, Gilbert,” he said, after a moment’s pause, “have you seen anything of a ten-dollar bill?—I laid one on the desk an hour ago, and now it has disappeared.”
“I haven’t seen it, sir.”
“Won’t you look on the floor? It may have dropped.”
Gilbert searched, but of course unsuccessfully.
“That is strange,” said the book-keeper. “I remember distinctly placing the bill on the desk; have you seen it, John?”
“No, cousin Simon.”