“Right! And you are the miserable dog who aided him in that little piece of work. I am very sorry we met here. Had it been elsewhere, it would have given me great satisfaction to thrash you till you begged like a cur at my feet!”
“That might not prove such an easy thing to do,” he snarled, in a low tone. “So she fled to you, did she? And I suppose she is blowing you to this feed off the boodle? Well, I’ve found her, and now she’ll have to give it up! I’ve fooled with her for the last time. If she won’t marry me, she can go; but first she must give me my doll.”
Frank wondered if he had understood correctly. What could the man want of a doll? Was it slang of some sort?
The girl sat staring at Jones, as if in doubt about what she would do. Frank longed to aid her in some way, but her fears had made him hesitate about moving.
“Where is it?” hissed Jones, fixing her with his eyes. “Give it to me! If you do that I’ll leave you and trouble you no more. I shall be glad to get rid of you, for you cannot be trusted.”
“You deceived me—or tried to,” she declared accusingly. “You told me there were nothing but private papers hidden in her.”
“So you have investigated?” he returned. “I knew it! It belongs to me—every bit of it!”
“Even so, you are a criminal whom I might turn over to the officers.”
“And you would turn yourself over to them at the same time, for you are my accomplice.”
This talk was very puzzling to Merriwell, who wondered what it could all be about.
“We are attracting attention,” said the girl. “Go away. I will meet you to-morrow at ten o’clock.”
“Don’t think me such a fool! I’ll never leave you again for a single moment till that doll is in my hands.”
“Oh, not much! You can’t slip me, for I know you now, and I’ll never trust you again.”
She began to tap her foot, while he stood there, cool and triumphant, grinning down upon her.
“Where is the money my father left?” she demanded, still in a repressed voice, in order not to attract attention. “When you give me that you shall have your old doll and its contents.”
“Very well. It is folly to argue with a woman who has made up her mind in advance. I will not contradict you.”
“I have no objections; want it as much as you like.”
“While he was alive you dared not touch it, for you knew he would hunt you down and kill you if you did. He had confidence in you, and so when he died he left you to turn the money over to me. Not one dollar of it have you ever given me.”