“Oh, yes, and we understood it, perfectly,” returned Tom, hastily.  “It’s all right.  We didn’t do so much, after all.”

“I think you did a good deal,” and Barton Pelter laughed nervously.  “You—­ you are now in business where my uncle used to be, are you not?”

“We are,” answered Dick.  “By the way,

what has become of your uncle?” he questioned, curiously.

“I don’t know, exactly.  I think though he is going East.  Perhaps to Boston.  How is business with you?” the young man continued, hastily, as if he wanted to change the subject.

“Oh, business is all right enough,” answered Dick.  And then he looked meaningly at his brothers.

“The trouble with us is, we’ve been very unfortunate,” broke in Tom, before the others could stop him.  “We’ve just suffered a tremendous loss.”

“Is that so?  In what way?”

Before answering, Tom looked at Dick.  “Shall I tell him?” he questioned, in a low tone.

“You might as well, since you have gone so far,” was the reply.  “In fact, I don’t know that it will do much good to keep still any longer.”

“We’ve been robbed.”

“You don’t say so!  Did you lose much?”

“We lost sixty-four thousand dollars’ worth of bonds,” answered Sam.

“Oh, a bad business deal, I presume.”  And Barton Pelter smiled grimly.  “That’s the way it is in Wall Street.  You are up one day, and down the next.  That’s the way it was with my uncle.”

“No, we didn’t lose the bonds that way,” answered Dick.  “They were stolen.”

“Stolen!  From where?”

“From our office.”

“Why, that’s the worst I ever heard!” declared Barton Pelter, with interest.  “Who was it?  Did some fellow sneak into your offices and take them?”

“We don’t know how the robbery took place,” answered Tom.  “My brother put the bonds in a japanned box that was locked, and put the box in the once safe one afternoon.  The next morning when he opened the safe, the box with the bonds was gone.”

“What’s that!” exclaimed the listener, excitedly.  “You had them in a box, and put the box in your safe?  Do you mean the safe that was in the offices when my uncle and Mr. Japson had it?”

“Sure! it’s the same safe,” answered Dick.

“Well, what do you know about that!” gasped Barton Pelter.  His face showed increasing interest.  “When was all this?”

“Just about a week ago.”

“Haven’t you any clews to the robbery?”

“Nothing very much,” answered Dick, before either of his brothers could speak.  “A girl saw a man leaving the building the evening of the robbery, but who he was, she did not know.”

“And you say the box was put in the safe my uncle used to own?” went on the young man.  “Of course it was locked?”

“Yes.”

“Was it—­ er—­ er—­ was it—­ er—­ that is, did you have the same combination on it that the lock used to have?” stammered the other.