“Yes; and it was generally believed. The claim was wonderfully rich, and besides what the two men took out they sold their claim for at least twenty thousand dollars. That was ten thousand dollars apiece.”
“Can this be possible?”
“Oh, you may rely upon that. That I happened to know.”
“This very evening I called upon Mr. Simpson and asked him about the matter. He told me that father had about five thousand dollars at the time he disappeared.”
“Then Simpson lied,” said the tramp, bluntly.
“I don’t know why he should misrepresent things to me.”
“I suppose he had his reasons.”
“But what were they?”
“I give it up. Where do you live?”
“In that little cottage.”