Half an hour--an hour--passed, and still the old man found himself alone. His messenger had not come back. But there came up the path a tall, muscular figure, who greeted the old man in a bluff, off-hand way. "How are you, Luke?" said the old man. "I was feeling lonely. I am glad to see you." "Have you been alone since morning?" "Not quite all the time. I had quite a long call from a stranger." "A stranger!" repeated Luke suspiciously. "What was his appearance?" The old man described Burns, and Luke knew him at once. "What did he say to you?" "That reminds me--he said he knew the boy whom Horace has put in the store--young Ray." "Did he?" "Yes, and he doesn't speak well of him." "What does he say about him?" "I don't like to tell you, Luke, for I believe he is a protege of yours." "Don't mind that. If there is anything to be said unfavorable of Ernest I ought to know it." "He says the boy robbed a store in which he was employed, and then pretended it was entered by thieves. It was on that account, he says, that the boy was compelled to leave the town where he lived and come to California." "Really, that is very interesting. To my own personal knowledge the boy was never before employed in a store, and he came out to California with me." "Then what could the man mean?" "I can't say. I can only tell you that he is a professional thief." "Look quick, Luke, and see if my gold watch is hanging on a nail near the cupboard." "No, it is not there." "Then the rascal must have stolen it. I gave him a Mexican dollar to buy some eggs at the store." "I don't think you will ever see it again, unless I catch the thief, as I may to-night." CHAPTER XXX A BURGLAR'S FAILURE If Tom Burns had been more prudent, he would have made good his escape with the money and gold watch he had already secured. But he was too greedy for gain. He pictured to himself the store with its goodly stock of money taken in during the day, and he felt an irresistible craving for it. There might be one or two hundred dollars, and no one in charge but a boy whom he could easily overpower. Apart from the pecuniary gain he felt that he should enjoy getting the best of Ernest, who had already foiled him at Oak Forks. "This time he will come out second best," chuckled Burns to himself. Then he laughed when he remembered how his appearance had puzzled Ernest. "It was a good idea growin' a beard," he said to himself. "Seems to have disguised me pretty well. The boy thought he had seen me before, but he couldn't make out where. The next time he'll know me, I reckon. "I must keep out of the way till night," he said to himself. "It won't do for me to be seen prowlin' round the settlement." He retired a mile or two among the hills, and waited impatiently for night to come. "It is lucky that the old man gave me a meal," he reflected, "otherwise I should be about starved. I wonder if that watch is worth much."