He had his hands full of bills, and quite a hefty pile of silver lay on the floor of the mill.
“I drew exactly fourteen hundred and sixty-three dollars from the bank,” replied the other, his face lighted up with a happy smile; “thirty of it was in silver, so as to make change in the pay of the men, who are on piece work.”
“Count this then,” continued Hugh, “and as they haven’t had any chance to get rid of a red cent, I should think you’d find it all here.”
To their surprise it turned out that there was considerably more than that amount, some sixty-two dollars in fact. This proved that Pete and Bill could not have been “dead broke” at the time they laid that trap in order to stop the rich man’s son on the road, and rob him of the quarrymen’s wages.
Gusty was greatly pleased. It was not altogether because he had recovered both his runabout and the money taken from him. There was something even more delightful in the knowledge that he himself had shared in the capture of the robbers, having done his part of the work of pulling the tall man down. And the new sensation gave him such a splendid feeling that he was already looking on every one of the scouts as a brother, whose further acquaintance he meant to zealously cultivate.
As it was unreasonable to think of returning to the island camp that night, the boys set about making themselves as comfortable as the conditions allowed. When the fire had been replenished, things began to take on a more cheerful air. Even the sad murmur of the dropping water outside no longer inspired Billy and a few more of the boys with thoughts of haunted houses and the like. In fact they rather liked it now, though sticking close to the inside of the mill.
Still that was a very long night. Few of the scouts save Billy Worth secured any sleep to mention; but nothing could ever keep him from losing himself to the world.
Hugh often went over to where the two men were, and examined their bonds so as to make sure that they were not breaking loose. He had taken a wicked-looking gun from each tramp, and managed to let them understand that he carried one of these with him for better protection.
When day broke, the scouts were early astir. It had been planned to start over the ridge toward the river so as to reach the island camp by breakfast time.
Although all of them were ferociously hungry, the boys made merry as they trailed along. They felt that they had managed to do something that would add another triumph to the already long list of praiseworthy deeds credited to the troop.