Page:The Secret of the Old Mill.pdf/217

Rh "To tell the truth," he said, "my first suspicions were when Uncle Dock offered to give us a reward for helping save Lester from the river. He took two five dollar bills from his pocket and offered them to us. Then the other man snatched them from him, turned around, and later offered them to us again."

The Secret Service man smiled.

"Uncle Dock offered you two counterfeit bills and the other man was afraid they would be detected and that you would know where they came from."

"I suppose that was his idea. But it made me suspicious. After that, Joe and I kept watching the place and as everything seemed to indicate that something suspicious was going on at the mill we made up our mind to pay them a visit."

"And a very lucky thing it was that you did. It was a smart piece of work and I want to assure you that the Government won't forget it."

The Government did not forget it. Before the month was out, the Hardy boys had received a check for one thousand dollars as a reward for the part they had played in the capture of the counterfeiters.

"Enough money," Chet Morton said when he heard of it, "to buy gas for the motorboat for a couple of years, anyway."