"The coast is clear," he said, joyfully. "Now if the key only fits."

 

He went to his aunt's sitting room, and, not anticipating any interruption, directed his steps a once to the small table, from a drawer in which he had seen Mrs. Merton take the morocco pocketbook. He tried one key after another, and finally succeeded in opening the drawer. He drew it out with nervous anxiety, fearing that the pocket-book might have been removed, in which case all his work would have been thrown away.

 

But no! Fortune favored him this time, if it can be called a favor. There, in plain sight, was the morocco pocketbook. Harold, pale with excitement, seized and opened it. His eyes glistened as he saw that it was well filled. He took out the roll of bills, and counted them. There were five ten-dollar bills and three fives--sixty-five dollars in all. There would have been more, but Mrs. Merton, before going out, had taken four fives, which she intended to use.

 

It was Harold's first theft, and he trembled with agitation as he thrust the pocketbook into his pocket. He would have trembled still more if he had known that his mother's confidential maid and seamstress, Felicie Lacouvreur, had seen everything through the crevice formed by the half-open door.

 

Felicie smiled to herself as she moved noiselessly away from her post of concealment.

 

"Master Harold is trying a dangerous experiment," she said to herself. "Now he is in my power. He has been insolent to me more than once, as if he were made of superior clay, but Felicie, though only a poor servant, is not, thank Heaven, a thief, as he is. It is a very interesting drama. I shall wait patiently till it is quite played out."

 

In his hurry, Harold came near leaving the room with the table drawer open. But he bethought himself in time, went back, and locked it securely. It was like shutting the stable door after the horse was stolen. Then, with the stolen money in his possession, he left the house. He did not wish to be found at home when his aunt returned.

 

Harold had sixty-five dollars in his pocket--an amount quite beyond what he had ever before had at his disposal--but it must be admitted that he did not feel as happy as he had expected. If he had come by it honestly--if, for instance, it had been given him--his heart would have beat high with exultation, but as it was, he walked along with clouded brow. Presently he ran across one of his friends, who noticed his discomposure.

 

"What's the matter, Harold?" he asked. "You are in the dumps."

 

"Oh, no," answered Harold, forcing himself to assume a more cheerful aspect. "I have no reason to feel blue."

 

"You are only acting, then? I must congratulate you on your success. You look for all the world like the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance."

 

"Who is he?" asked Harold, who was not literary.

 

"Don Quixote. Did you never hear of him?"

 

"No."

 

"Then your education has been neglected. What are you going to do to-day?"

 

"I don't know."

 

"Suppose we visit a dime museum?"

 

"All right."

 

"That is, if you have any money. I am high and dry."

 

"Yes, I have some money."

 

They went to a dime museum on Clark Street.

 

Harold surprised his companion by paying for the two tickets out of a five-dollar bill.

 

"You're flush, Harold," said his friend. "Has anybody left you a fortune?"............