"Your company！"he exclaimed，as if mysti？eda."Yes；I own the controlling interest in the Pierce—Lane Lumber Company，which has the contract to cut your timber，"answered Mr.Merrick.
The hardware dealer slowly arose and glanced at his watch.
"I must get back to my store，"he said."You are somewhatin error about your company，Mr.Merrick；but I suppose your interests are so large and varied that you cannot well keep track of them.Good morning，sir.I'll see you again soon，Joe.Glad you're improving so rapidly.Let me know if I can do anything to help you."With these quiet words，he bowed and left the room，andwhen he had gone，Joe said，in a deprecating tone：
"Poor Bob must be very unhappy about having lost myfather's money in that speculation，for he advocated the plan very strongly，believing it was a good investment.I'm afraid your mistake about paying him all that money upset him.Don't mind if he was a little brusque，sir.Bob West is a simple，kindly man，whom my father fully trusted.It was he that loaned me the money to get away from here with.""Tell me，"said Uncle John，thoughtfully，"did yourfather receive stock in the Almaquo Timber Tract Company in exchange for his money？""Oh，yes；I have seen it in the steel cupboard，"repliedJoe.
"Where is that？"
"Why，it is the cupboard in the right wing of our house，which was the Captain's own room.It was one of his whims，when he built，to provide what he called his 'bank.'You may have noticed the wooden doors of a cupboard built into the stone wall，sir？""Yes；I occupy the room.""Behind the wooden doors are others of steel.The entire cupboard is steel—lined.Near the bottom is a sliding—plate，which，when pushed aside，discovers a hidden drawer—a secret my father never con？ded to anyone but me.He once told me that if his heart trouble earned him off suddenly I ought to know of the existence of this drawer；so he showed me how to ？nd it.On the day after his death I took the keys，which he always carried on a small chain around his neck and concealedunderneath his clothing，and opened the cupboard to see if I could ？nd anything of value.It is needless to say，I could not discover anything that could be converted into a dollar.The Captain had ？lled the cupboard with old letters and papers of no value，and with relics he had brought from foreign lands during his many voyages.These last are mere rubbish，but I suppose he loved them for their association.In the secret drawer I found his stock in the timber company，and also that of old Will Thompson，who had doubtless left it with my father for safekeeping.Knowing it was now worthless，I left it in the drawer.""I'd like to see it，"announced Uncle John.Joe laughed.
"I've lost the keys，"he said.
"How's that，my lad？"
"Why，on the day of the funeral the keys disappeared.I could never imagine what became of them.But I did not care to look in the cupboard a second time，so the loss did not matter."Mr.Merrick seemed thoughtful.
"I suppose I own that cupboard now，"he remarked.