“What’s this!” he cried. “Someone has been tampering with my chair! There is something missing! Something valuable! Did you lads take anything from this chair?”
“What might it have been?” inquired Tom, calmly, motioning to his chums to keep silent.
“A paper—a document—a valuable document! Did you take it?”
“We found a certain paper,” replied Tom. “I sat in the chair a little too hard, the boards dropped, and there was a paper in there.”
“It’s mine! Where is it now? I demand it!”
“Easy,” counseled Tom. “Do you know what that paper was?”
“I should say I do! Give it to me at once! You may keep the chair if you like, but give me the paper!”
The man was getting more and more excited.
“That paper,” said Tom, calmly, “was a missing quit-claim deed to property owned by Randall College. The loss of it entailed a lawsuit which is still pending. We found the deed, and, of course, that brings the suit to an end.”