Chapter XXI. The Thief is Discovered

Willis Ford ascended the steps of the broker's residence with a jaunty step. The servant admitted him, but he met Grant in the hall.

"Won't you come upstairs, Mr. Ford?" he said.

Willis Ford nodded superciliously.

"Your stay in the house will be short, young man," he thought. "You had better make the most of it."

He was ushered not into the housekeeper's room, but into a sitting-room on the second floor. He found Mr. Reynolds and his stepmother there already. Both greeted him, the broker gravely, but his stepmother cordially. Grant did not come in.

"I have come as you requested, Mr. Reynolds," he said. "I suppose it's about the bonds. May I ask if you have discovered anything new?"

"I think I have," answered the broker, slowly.

The housekeeper looked surprised. If anything new had been discovered, she at least had not heard it.

"May I ask what it is?" Ford inquired, carelessly.

"You shall know in good time. Let me, however, return the question. Have you heard anything calculated to throw light on the mystery?"

"No, sir, I can't say I have. To my mind there is no mystery at all about the affair."

"I presume I understand what you mean. Still I will ask you to explain yourself."

"Everything seems to throw suspicion upon that boy, Grant Thornton. Nobody saw him take the bonds, to be sure, but he has had every opportunity of doing so, living in the same house, as he does. Again, a key has been found in his pocket, which will open the bureau drawer in which the bonds were kept; and, thirdly, I can testify, and the boy admits, that he presented them at our office for sale, and received the money for them. I think, sir, that any jury would consider this accumulation of proof conclusive."

"It does seem rather strong," said the broker, gravely. "I compliment you on the way you have summed up, Mr. Ford."

Willis Ford looked much gratified. He was susceptible to flattery, and he was additionally pleased, because, as he thought, Mr. Reynolds was impressed by the weight of evidence.

"I have sometimes thought," he said, complacently, "that I ought to have become a lawyer. I always had a liking for the profession."

"Still," said the broker, deliberately, "we ought to consider Grant's explanation of the matter. He says that the bonds were intrusted to him for sale by a third party."

"Of course he would say something like that," returned Willis, shrugging his shoulders. "He can hardly expect anyone to be taken in by such a statement as that."

"You think, then, that he had no dealings with this Morrison?"

"I don't say that, sir," said Ford, remembering