ruth,
five shillin' don't pay me."

"But we are not going to prosecute."

"No, not now, but you may, and I shall have to stick to it, and maybe
have to be brought up. Besides, it was put straight to me by the guvnor
and Mr. Tom was there a-lookin' at me right in my face. As I say, five
shillin' don't pay me."

"Well, we shall not let the matter drop. We shall keep our eyes open:
you may be sure of that, Jim. I dare say you have been worried over the
business. Here's another five shillings for you."

Again Jim refrained from thanking her, but slowly put on his cap and left
the house.

CHAPTER XVI

Mr. Furze tried several experiments during the next two or three weeks.
It was his custom to look after his shop when Tom went to his meals, and
on those rare occasions when he had to go out during Tom's absence, Orkid
Jim acted as a substitute. Whenever Mr. Furze found a sovereign in the
till he quietly marked it with his knife or a filet but it was invariably
handed over to him in the evening. On a certain Wednesday afternoon, Tom
being at his dinner, Mr. Furze was summoned to the Bell by a message from
Mr. Eaton, and Jim was ordered to come immediately. He usually went
round to the front door. He preferred to walk down the lane from the
foundry, and when the back rooms were living rooms, passage through them
was of course forbidden.

As the summons, however, was urgent, he came the shortest way, and,
looking in through the window which let in some borrowed light from the
back of the shop to the warehouse behind, he saw Mr. Furze, penknife in
hand, at the till. Wondering what he could be doing, Jim watched him for
a moment. As soon as Mr. Furze's back was turned he went to the till,
took out a sovereign which was in it, closely examined it, discovered a
distinct though faint cross at the back of his Majesty George the Third's
head, pondered a moment, and then put the coin back again. He looked
very abstruse, rubbed his chin, and finally smiled after his fashion.
Tom's shop coat and waistcoat were hung up just inside the
counting-house. Jim went to them and turned the waistcoat pockets inside
out. To put the sovereign in an empty pocket would be dangerous. Tom
would discover it as soon as he returned, and would probably inform Mr.
Furze at once. A similar test for the future would then be impossible.
Jim thought of a better plan, and it was strange that so slow a brain was
so quick to conceive