"You know my cousin's version of the loss of those notes?"
"Certainly—he said they must have been stolen during the two or three minutes that he was out of the room."
"Yes—now" (Harry wrote a few words to fill up the broken sentences of the letter) "read that, sir."
"Good heavens!"
"My cousin tells me, too," he went on, "that this fellow, Bob Coppin, was in the office half an hour before the notes were missed—why, very likely he was at the time hanging about the place—and that in the evening, when his cousin was in an agony of distress, Bob was laughing as if the whole thing was a joke."
"Upon my word," said the chief, "it seems plausible."
"We can try the thing at once," said Harry. "But I should like you to be present when we do."
"Undoubtedly I will be present—come, let us go at once. By the way, you were the young man recommended by Miss Messenger; are you not?"
"Yes. Not that I have the honor of knowing Miss Messenger personally."