The man drew a long, uneven breath. "Yes," he answered. Lindsay glanced at the suit-case, at the man in the chair, at the revolver. "Jimmy!" he muttered, "Jimmy B.!" For the first time since he had last addressed her, he noticed Caroline. He frowned, then suddenly his face cleared. "Look here," he said, his eye again on the man, "do you know where all that silver belongs?" She nodded. "I help Selma sometimes." "Could you put it back so nobody would know?" "Oh, yes," she answered him, "and the--things from the bureau, too?" His lips curled scornfully and his hold on the revolver tightened. "A thorough job, wasn't it?" he muttered, then controlling himself he answered evenly, "Oh, yes, might as well get 'em all back. We'll just step in the library a minute." The man got up and went before him into the library, stumbling as he walked. Lindsay watched him drop into a seat and stood in front of him. "What proof have you got that what you said in there is true?" he asked abruptly, "before we leave the house, I must know." "Proof?" the man repeated, "proof?" He stared almost vacantly at Lindsay. "Why, yes," the boy answered impatiently. "You say you're the father of one of the most brilliant men in my class, you wear the pin of his society--a pin I happen to know he lost recently--and I find you stealing my aunt's spoons! For God's sake, what's the meaning of it?" The man twisted his fingers together and moistened his lips. "It kind of settled on me all at once," he said in a hollow voice, "I felt it since morning. She scared me so to begin with--she came like a ghost--and then the dog finished me. I had one o' them once and he nearly did me up--turned on me. Jim pulled him off," he added, "but they give me a turn whenever I see 'em." Lindsay stamped angrily. "Will you prove what you say? Or shall we discuss it at the station-house?" The man raised his hand deprecatingly. "No, no;" he said hastily, "no--that's what I don't want. That's why I--that's the reason I don't--good Lord, don't you know you've given me a half a dozen chances, if I'd had the nerve for the risk? Why, I c'd've butted that gun out of your hand twice in the last ten minutes, you young fool! How long d'ye suppose it would take a husky man to back you into one closet and Missy into another and walk off with the stuff? Hey?" His eyes flashed, he threw back his head and breathed hard, a cornered animal. Lindsay felt a tingle of excitement run down his spine; for a moment there was danger in the air. "I--I notice you didn't see your way to all this," he said scornfully. But he blushed as he spoke, the man saw it, and Lindsay knew he saw it; he winced and drew himself up in a boyish attempt to save the situation.