“About three hundred millions,” replied Thorpe quietly.
The old man's blue eyes fixed themselves with unwavering steadiness on Thorpe's face.
“You're jobbing some of it, eh?” he submitted finally as the only probable conclusion. “Do you think you know enough about it? Who does it belong to?”
“It belongs to a man named Carpenter and myself.”
The riverman pondered this slowly for an appreciable interval, and then shot out another question.
“How'd you get it?”
Thorpe told him simply, omitting nothing except the name of the firm up-river. When he had finished, Shearer evinced no astonishment nor approval.
“You done well,” he commented finally. Then after another interval:
“Have you found out who was the men stealin' the pine?”
“Yes,” replied Thorpe quietly, “it was Morrison & Daly.”