he should send for me in a few weeks."

The young man had noticed with some curiosity the rather oddly-shaped
bundle which Stark carried under his arm, but could not see his way
clear to asking any questions about it. It seemed queer that Stark
should have it with him while walking. Come to think of it, he
remembered seeing him go out in the early evening, and he was quite
confident that at that time he had no bundle with him. However, he was
influenced only by a spirit of idle curiosity. He had no idea that
the bundle was of any importance or value. The next day he changed his
opinion on that subject.

Phil Stark went up to his chamber, and setting the lamp on the bureau,
first carefully locked the door, and then removed the paper from the tin
box. He eyed it lovingly, and tried one by one the keys he had in his
pocket, but none exactly fitted.

As he was experimenting he thought with a smile of the night clerk from
whom he had just parted.

"Stark," he soliloquized, addressing himself, "you are an old humbug.
You have cleverly duped that unsophisticated young man downstairs. He
looks upon you as a man of unbounded wealth, evidently, while, as a
matter of fact, you are almost strapped. Let me see how much I have got
left."

He took out his wallet, and counted out seven dollars and thirty-eight
cents.

"That can hardly be said to constitute wealth," he reflected, "but it is
all I have over and above the contents of this box. That makes all the
difference. Gibbon is of opinion that there are four thousand dollars
in bonds inside, and he expects me to give him half. Shall I do it? Not
such a fool! I'll give him fifteen hundred and keep the balance myself.
That'll pay him handsomely, and the rest will be a good nestegg for me.
If Gibbon is only half shrewd he will pull the wool over the eyes of
that midget of an employer, and retain his place and comfortable salary.
There will be no evidence against him, and he can pose as an innocent
man. Bah! what a lot of humbug there is in the world. Well, well, Stark,
you have your share, no doubt. Otherwise how would you make a living?
To-morrow I must clear out from Milford, and give it a wide berth in
future. I suppose there will be a great hue-and-cry about the robbery
of the safe. It will be just as well for me to be somewhere else. I have
already given the clerk a good reason for my sudden departure. Confound
it, it's a great nuisance that I can't open this box! I would