And, besides, this isn't the money I lost."
"Well--well, what if 'tain't? I don't care. I--I know 'tain't.
I--I spent your money."
"You SPENT it? When? You told me you only found it this mornin'."
"I--I know I did, but 'twan't so. I--I--" Jed was in an agony of
alarm and frantic haste. "I found your money two or three days
ago. Yes, sir, that's when I found it. . . . Er. . . er . . ."
"Humph! Why didn't you tell me you found it then? If you'd found
it what made you keep runnin' into the bank to ask me if I'D found
it? Why didn't you give it back to me right off? Oh, don't be so
ridiculous, Jed."
"I--I ain't. It's true. I--I didn't give it back to you because--
because I--I thought first I'd keep it."
"Keep it? KEEP it? Steal it, do you mean?"
"Yes--yes, that's what I mean. I--I thought first I'd do that and
then I got--got kind of sorry and--and scared and I got some more
money--and now I'm givin' it back to you. See, don't you, Sam?
That's the reason."
Captain Sam shook his head. "So you decided to be a thief, did
you, Jed?" he said, slowly. "Well, the average person never'd have
guessed you was such a desperate character. . . . Humph! . . .
Well, well! . . . What was you goin' to do with the four hundred,
provided you had kept it? You spent the money I lost anyway; you
said you did.
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