“No matter! I’ve got you, you rascal!” And he shook Philip fiercely. “What villainous work have you been up to?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Philip, his teeth chattering. “I am the son of Colonel Ross, and he won’t allow me to be treated this way.”
“I’d treat him the same way if I caught him here,” growled Temple, with a lack of reverence for the colonel’s exalted position, which struck Philip with horror. “Now, tell me what you have done with the tin box, you young scoundrel!”
“The tin box!” ejaculated Philip, in genuine amazement.
“Yes, the tin box. You know well enough what I mean.”
“I don’t know anything of any tin box; indeed, I don’t.”
“Do you mean to say you didn’t dig it up from the place where we put it?”
“No; indeed I didn’t! I don’t know anything about it. What was in it?”
Was this ignorance real or affected? Temple could not tell. What was certain was that the box was gone, and this boy was hovering about the spot. It would be folly to let him go.
“I don’t believe you,” he said, bluntly. “You must come with me.”