As he finished speaking, a movement at the door behind the two rooms caused him to turn round, and he saw his father, whom he had supposed to be sound asleep in the other room, standing in the doorway with a strange look in his eyes that Terry recalled afterwards with a sharp thrill of apprehension. Evidently Black Mike had been listening to the talk, and understood its purport. He made no remark, however, but after standing there in silence for a moment, wheeled about and went back to bed.
The next morning, shortly after Mr. Drummond's arrival at the office, there were indications of some unusual occurrence having taken place. The partners were seen to be in anxious consultation, and presently Mr. Hobart was called in to their sanctum. He came out shortly with a very troubled countenance, and Terry ventured to inquire,--
"Is there anything the matter, Mr. Hobart?"
"I should say there was something the matter," was the reply. "Mr. Drummond's desk has been broken open, and that black bag which was full of gold has been stolen."
Amid the anxious bustle that filled the office Terry sat at his desk with strange and perplexing thoughts coursing through his brain. He had seen the bag just for one moment as Mr. Drummond was hastily throwing it into his desk. So far as he knew, only Mr. Hobart and himself, of the office staff, had any knowledge of its existence. That Mr. Hobart should have taken it was a notion so absurd that his mind refused to entertain it for an instant. His kind friend was to him the incarnation of every human virtue, and Terry would have resented hotly the insinuation that he could possibly be guilty of any such wrong-doing.
Who, then, could be the thief? As he looked about the office, glancing from one to the other of the countenances of the clerks, all of whom, laying aside their work for the time, were exchanging conjectures as to how the robbery had been managed, his eyes seemed drawn irresistibly towards Morley.
The latter was not at his own desk, but stood near the window looking out, as though not particularly interested in the earnest discussion, yet every now and then he gave a glance towards the group which showed that he was listening intently to all they said.