"Your friend!" sneered the broker who was not particularly impressed by the magnificent manners and the magnificent speech of Master Simon.
"The little girl has just gone with a note from Mrs. Gordon of Temple Street to seek redress of the mayor. I doubt not you will be prosecuted at once. You have an opportunity to save yourself."
"What do you mean by that, you young puppy?" said the broker, angrily. "Do you mean to say I stole the watch?"
"By no means; only that you took what did not belong to you," replied Master Simon, blandly.
"Get out of my shop!"
"Understand me, sir; I come as your friend."
"You are a fool, I believe."
"You have an undoubted right to your opinion, as I have to mine; but if you do not restore the watch within half an hour, you will be arrested for stealing—I beg your pardon, for taking what did not belong to you."
There was something in the earnest manner of Simon which arrested the attention of the broker, in spite of the former's high-flown speech. He was satisfied that something had been done, and he was disposed to avoid any unpleasant consequences.
"I spoke to a policeman about the watch," said the man. "I told him I had it, and if he found that such a watch had been stolen, it could be found at my shop."