The camping fellow started to say how it made him feel mean and contemptible to come over and ask about the money, and he guessed it was probably in Davy Jones' locker, anyway.
Pretty soon Mr. Ellsworth came back and said, "I'm very sorry, my young friend, but no sum of money was found on your companion. If it had been, it would either have been restored to him or held by the camp authorities through oversight. I have just made inquiries of them. The boy who saved your friend is not in camp at present, but I think I can answer for him, that he did not find it. To make sure, I will ask him when he returns and one of the boys will row over and let you know."
I could see the fellow seemed kind of disappointed, but anyway, he was mighty nice about it.
CHAPTER XX
TELLS ABOUT THE LOSS OF SOME MONEY
Mr. Ellsworth asked me to come back and get some letters to put in the mail box, so after I saw the gold dust twin start off I went back to the tepee, and just as I was going inside I saw Connie Bennett and Bert McAlpin and Hunt Ward and Stut Moran and Skinny coming down the hill in back of the tepee. Skinny was smiling all over and I could see the wrinkles at the ends of his mouth like I always could when he smiled. That's when you could see how thin he was. I shouted that I thought Mr. Ellsworth wanted to see him and he started to run, only Connie grabbed him by the collar, just for fun, and held him back. I heard him say, "Take your time, we're all in on this."
By that I knew that Skinny expected Mr. Ellsworth was going to give him the gold cross. I didn't blame him for thinking so, but the others might have had better sense, because it's usually a week, anyway, before an honor medal comes.
Anyway, they all came down into the tepee and stood looking around as if they expected to see the gold cross on the table. Hanged if I don't think Connie had n idea that Mr. Ellsworth would hand it to him, he looked so important like.
Mr. Ellsworth just went on and finished the letter he was writing, then he said, "Alfred, our rescued mariner from across the lake can't find a roll of money he had in his mackinaw. He thinks it may have gone down in the lake. Don't happen to know anything about it, do you?"
I have to admit that I felt sort of funny and I looked pretty close at Skinny. He just stood there staring and I could see by his neck that he was breathing hard and all nervous sort of. Then Mr. Ellsworth asked him again, very pleasant like he always spoke to him. But Skinny didn't say a word, only stood there staring and he gulped as if he was trying to swallow something. Gee, I was all kind of shaky myself now, because I saw Mr. Ellsworth looked at him in a funny way—like a fellow looks at the sun—kind of. As if he was studying him—you know.