"Then he must have got through the transom. We have had such cases before."
"If you have finished asking foolish questions I will go back to bed," said Buffington with remarkable assurance.
"Wait a minute. Did you see this man in your room?"
"Searching for my purse. He was fumbling about the bedclothes at the foot of the bed."
Buffington's face contracted with disappointment. He had been on the brink of success, when Mark, unfortunately for him, awoke.
"He sprang for the door, and would have escaped if you had not caught him."
"I saw him on the train coming here for the first time."
"Yes. He stole a young lady's pocketbook. I made him give it up."
Buffington looked at Mark menacingly. He would have liked to wreak his vengeance upon him.
"He calls himself _Rev._ Mr. Buffington."
"Sorry to disturb you, reverend sir," he said, "but I shall be obliged to lock you in your room till morning."
"All right!" he said. "I shall at any rate secure a good night's sleep."
The watchman did as he suggested. He shut the burglar in his room, and locked the door from the outside.
"Now," he said to Mark, "you can sleep undisturbed for the balance of the night."
Although Mark was inclined to pity any man deprived of his liberty, he felt pleased to think that Buffington's career was cut short for a time. There was little doubt that he would be imprisoned for a time more or less extended.
"How much better it would be for him," thought Mark, "if he had earned his living in some honest way!"
Stealing may seem an easy way of obtaining money, but the one who depends on it is likely to be brought up with a round term at last.
When Mark went down in the morning the clerk said to him, "So you had a little excitement in your room last night, the watchman tells me."
"Yes; I had a visitor, but fortunately he was caught without securing anything. He was about to take my pocketbook when I woke up. I was lucky, for I might have found myself unable to pay my bill here."
"We would have given you time. We can tell by your face that you are honest."
"Thank you. Has Buffington been taken from his room yet?"
"Buffington? I don't know any such name."
"He is down on our books as Lawrence Perkins."
"He may have a dozen. Such gentry usually do. I will send you a couple of policemen and have him taken round to the station-house."