“Wasn’t there four hundred and fifty dollars in the pocket-book?” demanded the merchant sharply.
“I am sure there was not,” the culprit persisted.
“The pocket-book was not taken by the thief:
do you happen to have it about you, Lingerwell?”
“After I found it was empty, I laid it on the rail for a minute, and it fell overboard. It was so dark I could not recover it,” replied the prisoner.
While Lingerwell was inventing and uttering this falsehood, Mr. Longbrook picked up a piece of newspaper, folded in the shape of a bank-bill, which he found lying on the floor of the steamer.
“I suppose this is the piece of paper you found in the pocket-book in place of the money?”
“That is the piece of paper.”
“Here is the rest of the paper,” added Dory, taking a newspaper from his pocket.
The merchant put the two pieces of paper together, and found they were part of the same sheet.