s of that pocketbook have gone. Were
the things taken out before the bill book fell into your son's hands or
afterward? And if afterward, who took them? Who had the chance? Donovan
seems to think he has a clue, but I confess I have none."

"Hadn't you looked over the bonds and stuff since you took them home?"

"No," Mr. Ackerman admitted. "I got them from the broker yesterday and
as it was too late to put them into the safe-deposit vault, I took them
home with me instead of putting them in our office safe as I should have
done. I thought it would be easier for me to stop at the bank with them
this morning on my way to business. It was foolish planning but I aimed
to save time."

"So the pocketbook was at your house over night?"

Mr. Ackerman nodded.

"Yes," confessed he. "Nevertheless it did not go out of my possession.
I had it in the inner pocket of my coat all the time."

"You are sure no one took the things out while you were asleep last
night?"

"Why--I--I don't see how they could," faltered Mr. Ackerman. "My
servants are honest--at least, they always have been. I have had them
for years. Moreover, none of them knew I had valuable papers about me.
How could they?" was the reply.

Once more silence fell upon the room.

"Come, Tolman," ejaculated the steamboat man presently, "you are a
level-headed person. What is your theory?"

"If I did not know my son and myself as well as I do," Mr. Tolman
answered with deliberation, "my theory would be precisely what I fancy
yours is. I should reason that during the interval between the finding
of the purse and its return the contents had been extracted."

He saw the New Yorker color.

"That, I admit, is my logical theory," Mr. Ackerman owned with a blush,
"but it is not my intuitive one. My brain tells me one thing and my
heart another; and in spite of the fact that the arguments of my brain
seem correct I find myself believing my heart and in consequence
cherishing a groundless faith in you and your boy," concluded he, with a
faint smile.

"That is certainly generous of you, Ackerman!" Mr. Tolman returned, much
moved by the other's confidence. "Stephen and I are in a very
compromising situation with nothing but your belief between us and a
great deal of unpleasantness. We appreciate your attitude of mind more
than we can express. The only other explanation I can offer, and in the
face of the difficulties it would involve it hardly seems a possible
one, is that