“Not at all,” answered Frank, with a reassuring smile. “It is my turn to explain, Pep. When the fire broke out I thought instantly of the cash box and the treasure it contained, so I took out the bills and the necklace. Here they are,” and Frank produced them from an inside pocket of his coat.
“Then—then——” stammered Pep, taken aback.
“Then you are just as much a hero as if you had saved a whole bank of money!” cried Frank, giving Pep a commending slap on the shoulder.
“It was a big thing you did, Pep,” declared Randy enthusiastically.
Ben Jolly and Vincent added more approving words, and Pep warmed up to his usual self at the praise of his friends.
“There’s the fellows outside to settle with,” he suggested.
“Glad to do it,” said Frank. “There must be at least thirty dollars in the box, so you have saved us a good deal, Pep.”
“Didn’t catch a weasel asleep when they came in here!” chuckled Jolly in Pep’s ear. “You taught them something this time.”
The farmer was very modest in his charges. “Two dollars covered the damages,” he remarked, “and seeing the fire was worth half of that.”
It was getting well on to morning by the time all hands were settled down. Vincent was the last to go to bed. He had got a card out of his pocket and said he had some business down town.