But, as he thought over what had happened, he found comfort in the
thought that the secret was at last safe. The note was burned, and
could never reappear in judgment against him. Certainly, he got off
cheap.

"Well," thought the tramp as he strode away from the squire's mansion,
"this has been a profitable evening. I have two hundred dollars in my
pocket, and--I still have a hold on the rascal. If he had only
examined the note before burning it, he might have made a discovery!"




CHAPTER IX
A PROSPECT OF TROUBLE


When Ben returned home from the Town Hall he discovered, at the first
glance, that his mother was in trouble.

"Are you disturbed because I came home so late?" asked Ben. "I would
have been here sooner, but I went home with Rose Gardiner. I ought to
have remembered that you might feel lonely."

Mrs. Barclay smiled faintly.

"I had no occasion to feel lonely," she said. "I had three callers.
The last did not go away till after nine o'clock."

"I am glad you were not alone, mother," said Ben, thinking some of his