Altogether, that was a hectic day. Barry didn’t accompany the others to Watkins and Boyle’s after dinner, for Major Loring made a change in his plans and called the candidates together in the gymnasium at one-thirty. But he got a graphic account of the affair from Peaches. Mr. Benjy, declared Peaches, was superb. Reminded by Davy of the circumstances, Mr. Watkins recalled asking for the bond and being summoned to the telephone a moment later. He did not remember placing the bond in the drawer, but was convinced that he had done so. Complete exoneration for Davy had ensued, and both Mr. Watkins and Mr. Boyle had been profuse in their apologies. They had offered reinstatement to Davy at a larger salary than he had received before, and had almost begged Mr. Benjy to return. Both invitations had, however, been refused. Mr. Benjy had been dignity personified, displaying a quite unbelievable hauteur all through the interview and, at the last, leaving the office with his arm through Davy’s and his head in the air, like a conqueror; which, when you came to think of it, he was! Davy, said Peaches, had decided to return to Springfield, while Mr. Benjy, relieved of the necessity for making further reimbursements to Watkins and Boyle, and with a comfortable check in his pocket, representing what he had previously paid to them, was content to remain at the freight-office. The whole occasion, Peaches remarked, had been eminently satisfactory until the return. Then he had been obliged to enlighten a perplexed and much dissatisfied Toby, a Toby still of the opinion that, in some underhand fashion, he had been “crooked”――the word was his――out of at least a third interest in that bond! “Well,” said Barry, thoughtfully, “it’s mighty funny how things happen. If Clyde hadn’t decided to room with Hal Stearns, I wouldn’t have gone to Mrs. Lyle’s; and if I hadn’t gone there, I wouldn’t have had to buy a desk; and if I hadn’t bought that desk――” “The bond wouldn’t have been found until the lot of us were wearing chin whiskers,” interrupted Peaches, “if then! Because no one but you, Barry, would ever have bought that funny old thing!” “Funny old thing!” exclaimed Barry. “Huh! I guess you wish you could find some funny old things just like it! Let me tell you, Mr. Jones, it isn’t every one can go into an antique store and pick up thousand-dollar bonds!”