Chapter XXII. Willis Ford at Bay

The telegraph boy's evidence overwhelmed Willis Ford and his confederates with dismay. The feeling was greater in Ford, for it tended to fasten the theft upon him, while Jim Morrison and Tom Calder, though convicted of falsehood, were at all events sustained by the consciousness that nothing worse could be alleged against them.

"It is false!" asserted Willis Ford, with a flushed face.

"It is true!" declared the telegraph boy, sturdily.

"I don't believe a word of it," said the housekeeper, angrily.

"This is a startling revelation, Mr. Ford," said the broker, gravely.

"It is a base conspiracy, sir," returned Ford, hoarsely. "I submit, sir, that the word of a boy like that ought not to weigh against mine. Besides, these gentlemen," indicating Jim Morrison and Tom Calder, "will corroborate my statement."

"Of course we do," blustered Morrison. "That boy is a liar!"

"I have spoken the truth, sir, and they know it," asserted Johnny, resolutely.

"How much did Grant Thornton pay you for telling this lie?" demanded Willis Ford, furiously.

"I will answer that question, Mr. Ford," said Grant, thinking it time to speak for himself. "I paid him nothing, and did not know till last evening that he had witnessed the interview between you and Mr. Morrison."

"Your word is of no value," said Ford, scornfully.

"That is a matter for Mr. Reynolds to consider," answered Grant, with composure.

"Mr. Ford," said the broker, gravely, "I attach more importance to the testimony of this telegraph boy than you appear to; but then it is to be considered that you are an interested party."

"Am I to be discredited on account of what a wretched telegraph boy chooses to say?" asked Ford, bitterly. "Even supposing him worthy of credence, my two friends sustain me, and it is three against one."

"They are your friends, then?" asked Mr. Reynolds, significantly.

Willis Ford flushed. It was not to his credit to admit that an acknowledged gambler was his friend, yet he knew that to deny it would make Morrison angry, and perhaps lead him to make some awkward revelations.

"I have not known them long, sir," he answered, embarrassed, "but I believe they feel friendly to me. One of them," he added, maliciously, "is an old friend of Grant Thornton."

"Yes," answered Grant, by no means disconcerted. "Tom Calder is from the same town as myself, and I wish him well."

Tom looked pleased at this friendly declaration on the part of Grant, whom, indeed, he personally liked better than Willis Ford, who evidently looked down upon him, and had more than once snubbed