'Leave it,' said Jane; 'thief that you are! Jack knows of this. Take it at your peril.'
'I hope to find more than this,' said Olver. 'I shall look upstairs first.'
'Stay,' exclaimed the woman, springing to her feet. 'You shall not search. The preventive men have been here already and have looked into every corner and probed every wall. They found nothing.'
Olver laughed. 'They hunted after kegs of brandy, looked for large hiding-places. I know better than to do that. There will be none such here.'
'You shall not go,' said Jane, and attempted to intercept him.
'Beware how you interfere with me,' threatened Dench. 'The captain can't speak, and I shall make sure that you do not if you interfere with me in my work. Jane, be reasonable. What I want is my own money. I do not intend to take anything that by right should belong to you and your Winefred. We have both been pillaged by this man! Hands off! Let me pass!'
It was not possible to oppose him. He was the stronger of the two. He mounted a few steps, then descended again.
'A staircase,' said he, 'is a rare hiding-place, I must try every step.'
He examined each riser and footplace, but fruitlessly; then Jane heard him ransacking the chamber overhead. This engaged him for some time. He clearly believed that Captain Job had concealed the money in his bedroom, and he left no corner unexplored. Presently, dissatisfied with the result, angry and impatient, he descended, lighted a candle and mounted again to search a recess he had discovered in the roof, formed by a set-off from the chimney.
But this also was disappointing. He came down once more, blew out the candle and replaced it in the brass holder on the mantelshelf.