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 like to know before I go to bed just how
much boodle I have acquired. Then I can
decide how much to give Gibbon. If I dared
I'd keep the whole, but he might make trouble."
Phil Stark, or Col. Philip Stark, as he had
given his name, had a large supply of keys,
but none of them seemed to fit the tin box.
"I am afraid I shall excite suspicion if I sit
up any longer," thought Stark. "I will go
to bed and get up early in the morning. Then
I may succeed better in opening this plaguy box.
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