“I am glad to see you back, Mr. Burton,” said Tom.
“And I am glad to be back,” said his employer. “But what is all this I hear, Tom, about an attempted burglary?”
“Did you see the paragraph in the morning’s paper, sir?”
“Yes. I see you are reported to have acted like a young hero.”
“I didn’t know that I had done anything heroic till I read it in the paper,” he said.
“I like your modesty, Tom,” said Mr. Burton approvingly. “If the account is correct, however, I must say that you showed a good deal of pluck. That was a capital stratagem by which you trapped him.”
“He didn’t think so,” said Tom, laughing. “You have no idea how mad he was. I pretended to be a simpleton, and that put him off his guard.”
“By Jove, I don’t believe I should have managed the matter so well myself. Weren’t you afraid?”
“I wasn’t altogether comfortable in my mind,” said Tom, “for I wasn’t sure that my plan would work, but I can’t say I was frightened.”
“If you had been you wouldn’t have been able to act with so much coolness. How much money was there in the drawer?”
“Is it possible? You must have been doing a good trade.”
“You have done as well as if I had been here. I will take care that you are rewarded for your fidelity.”
“It is enough if you are pleased,” said Tom.
“No, it isn’t. Such fidelity and bravery as yours deserve to be encouraged, for they are rare enough.”
Mr. Burton went to the drawer and counted the money. It exceeded eight hundred dollars, for Tom had been doing a good trade that day. In fact, it was close upon a thousand.
He took out a hundred dollars in gold and handed it to Tom.
“Here, Tom,” said he. “I give you a hundred dollars. It will show you that I am not ungrateful.”
“A hundred dollars!” said Tom, in astonishment. “You give it to me?”
“Yes, I don’t know but I ought to give you more.”
“No, no,” said Tom hastily. “You are very generous. But I don’t think I ought to take it.”
“Then be guided by me and accept it. I give it to you freely. Without you I should have lost eight times the amount. You not only have done your duty faithfully, but you risked your life in doing it.”
“I suppose I did,” said Tom, “but I didn’t think of that at the time.”
“Take the money, then, and I hope it may be of service to you.”