"Yes."

"Hylton has a heap o' money, Tommy."

"If he have or no, I don't reckon its none o' your business, or mine
nuther."

The parent noticed the surly tone in which his son had just spoken, and
concluded to say "good day," and to be off.

Tommy Taft wondered what could be the cause of so sudden a departure;
and then he wondered whether, it really was his father that had so
unexpectedly accosted him. He went back to his spade, and next wondered
whether the man might not be an escaped convict. If so, how came he to
know John Hylton?

In obedience to orders, Tommy Taft set off to meet his employer
at the tavern in Hog's Lane. He supped that evening with the keeper.
Afterwards, he lighted his pipe, drew a chair up to the open fireplace,
and smoked in silence. Still later, he betook himself through a long,
narrow entry, up a narrow flight of stairs, and into a small, square
room. After he had closed the door behind him, he observed another door,
which, he concluded, opened into the next apartment. It was locked.
Tommy Taft was to pass the night in this self-same room, and he had good
reasons for believing that his employer occupied the room adjoining and
was already sound asleep.

The hours sped by. The tavern-keeper looked up to the clock,--it was
after midnight. He locked the big door, and had just diminished the
number of burning lamps from six to two, when he heard the sound of