Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville
"
West hesitated.
"It was all transferred to me by Captain Wegg and Will Thompson."
"Does the transfer appear upon the stock itself?"
"Of course, sir."
"In that case," said Uncle John, "I shall be obliged to ask your pardon.
But the fact can be easily proved."
He walked to the open cupboard, felt for the slide Joe had described to
him, and drew it forward. A small drawer was behind the orifice, and
from this Mr. Merrick drew a packet of papers.
West gave a start and half arose. Then he settled back into his chair
again.
"H-m. This appears to be the stock in question," said Uncle John. He
drew a chair to the table, unfolded the documents and examined them with
deliberate care.
The nieces watched his face curiously. Mr. Merrick first frowned, then
turned red, and finally a stern, determined look settled upon his
rugged features.
"Take your stock, Mr. West," he said, tossing it toward the man; "and
try to forgive us for making fools of ourselves!"
CHAPTER XXIII.
MR. WEST EXPLAINS.
A cry of amazed protest burst from the girls. The Major whistled softly
and walked to the window.
"I find the stock properly transferred," continued Uncle John, grimly
conscious that he was as thoroughly disappointed as the girls. "It is
signed by both Wegg and Thompson, and witnessed in the presence of a
notary. I congratulate you, Mr. West. You have acquired a fortune."
"But not recently," replied the hardware dealer, enjoying the confusion
of his recent opponents. "I have owned this stock for more than three
years, and you will see by the amount endorsed upon it that I paid a
liberal price for it, under the circumstances."
Uncle John gave a start and a shrewd look.
"Of course you did," said he. "On paper."
"I have records to prove that both Captain Wegg and Will Thompson
received their money," said West, quietly. "I see it is hard for you to
abandon the idea that I am a rogue."
There could be no adequate reply to this, so for a time all sat in moody
silence. But the thoughts of some were busy.
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In a village there lived two men who had the self-same name. Both were named Claus. But one of them owned four horses, and the other owned only one horse; so to distinguish between them people called the man who had four horses Big Claus, and the man who had only one horse Little Claus. Now I'll tell you what happened to these two, for this is a true story.
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