“I’m glad to hear you say that,” returned Dick; and his face showed his relief.  “Just the same, boys, we have got to find those bonds.  Our family can’t afford to lose sixty-four thousand dollars—­ or rather sixty thousand dollars.”

“What do you mean, Dick?” asked Tom.  “You said sixty-four thousand dollars.”

“So I did, but four thousand of the bonds were registered in dad’s name, principal and interest, so it’s likely the thief won’t be able to use them.”

“And all the other bonds were unregistered?” queried Sam.

“Yes, every one of them.”

“So they can be used by any one?”

“Exactly—­ although, of course, the thief would have to be very careful how he disposed of them.”

“Have you notified the police?” asked Tom.

“Not yet.  I wanted to consult you first.  Besides, I thought it might be possible that the thief would put an advertisement in the newspapers, offering to return the bonds for a reward.  But so far, I haven’t seen any such advertisement.”

“It isn’t likely they’ll offer to return them if sixty thousand dollars’ worth are negotiable,” returned Tom.  “But give us the particulars of the affair;” and the youth dropped into a seat, and the others did the same.

“Well, to start with, as I said before, as soon as Pelter and Japson and their hired help left, I had the lock of the safe investigated, and then had the combination changed,” began Dick.  “The fellow from the safe company showed me how the combination was worked, so I fixed the new numbers to suit myself, in order that no outsider would know how to open the safe.  I put the numbers down on two cards, and placed one of the cards in my notebook, and gave the other to Dora.  As she said, the cards had nothing on them but the bare numbers, so that a person getting one of the cards would not know that the numbers referred to the safe combination.

“It took me several days to get rid of the old stocks, and while I was doing that I, from time to time, purchased the bonds, buying them, on the advice of Mr. Powell, from several bond houses in Wall Street.  I also bought a brand new japanned box with a little lock, and placed the bonds in that box, and then put the box in the safe.  The last I saw of the bonds was about half-past four in the afternoon, when I placed the last of the bonds in the box.  I came down to the office at a little before ten o’clock the next morning, and opened the safe about half an hour later.  Then the box was gone.”

“Wait a minute, Dick,” interrupted Tom.  “You just said you opened the safe.  Wasn’t the door already open?”

“No, the door was shut and locked, just as I had left it the night before.”

“Humph!  Then somebody must have worked the combination,” ventured Sam.

“So it would seem, Sam, and yet when I had the lock inspected, the safe company man told me that that was a first-class combination, and practically burglar proof.”