act sooner. He at length decided, in the words of
Shakespeare, though he was not familiar with them:

"If 'twere done with when 'tis done,
Then, 'twere well it were done quickly."

The argument was this: If he acted soon, he could make use of his
father's keys, and that would save him trouble. On the other hand, there
was some risk that his father might think of them, and, coming
downstairs, surprise him. However, Philip didn't think this was likely,
and, in any event, he resolved to take the risk. He could pretend that
he had just caught sight of his keys, and was going to carry them
upstairs for safekeeping.

Indeed, Philip did not wait more than ten minutes.

"Father must be in bed by this time," he said to himself.

He took the small lamp by which he was reading, and entered his father's
office.

There lay the keys, and there stood the trunk.

He took the bunch of keys and selected a small one, which he thought
likely to fit the trunk.

It did.

The lid was lifted, and Philip, with eager hand, took the envelope which
he knew contained the government bonds. It was a bulky envelope, and
contained probably eight or ten bonds.

Of course, Philip didn't venture to take all. He selected two, of one
hundred dollars each, and replaced the others in the envelope, and
afterward in the trunk.

He put the bonds in his inside coat pocket, and, hastily refastening the
trunk, replaced the keys on his father's desk.

He breathed a sigh of relief to think the thing was done, and walked
over to the window.

What was his gratification to see Harry Gilbert walking by on the other
side of the street.

"All happens right," he said. "Now, Harry can't say he was at home. I'll
fix him. I'll say I saw him at the window, looking in, and his denial
won't amount to much, when he admits, as he will, that he was near the
house."

He would have felt differently had he seen the face of Tom Calder
peering in at one of the side windows. Tom had spent the evening in the
village, and was now on his return to his chamber, on the second floor
of the stable. His attention was attracted by the light in the room,
and, as the curtain was partly raised, he took the liberty of peering
in, unobserved.

"By gracious!" he exclaimed, in amazement. "Phil is stealing gov'ment
bonds from his father. He's a bad one, but I didn't think that of him."

Tom slipped out, resolved to consider at his leisure what he had better
do about imparting his