“Well, I’m glad I saw it, Tidball. When was it stolen?”
“About a month ago,” answered Anthony somewhat vaguely. “I left it in my room, and when I came back for it it was gone. Of course I never knew who’d taken it. But—I’m plaguy glad to find it again.”
“Of course, especially since it was presented to you. What is the story, Tidball?”
So Anthony told the professor about the rescue at Jonesboro, making it sound very casual and far from thrilling. But neither of his hearers was deceived, and insistent questioning and cross-examining finally gave the incident a different aspect.
“Well, yes,” Anthony acknowledged, “there was quite a sea running— Danger? Nothing to speak of if you knew how to manage a dory— The kid? Oh, he came round all right after a while; pretty near thing, though; another second or two would have finished him, likely. Father of the boy wanted me to take some money, but I wouldn’t; a fellow doesn’t take money for saving a life. So after he got home he sent me the watch. That’s all. Good deal of fuss about it.”
After the professor had taken his departure, insisting, for some reason, on shaking hands with the tall, ungainly junior, Jack turned upon Anthony and began his questions.
“I didn’t come right out, Jack, and say I’d pawned the watch,” Anthony explained, “but I gave you to understand that. The fact is I didn’t know what had become of it, and there wasn’t any use saying it had been stolen as long as I wasn’t certain about it. I left it in the room one morning when I went to recitation. I missed it in class, and came back, and couldn’t find it. I guess the tramp found the door open and walked in.”
“When was it?” asked Jack.
“Oh, well, about a month ago.”
Jack looked thoughtful, and Anthony eyed him uneasily. At last Jack brought one fist into the palm of his other hand and jumped up.