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118 dollars, and you take the pocket-book. Perhaps you won't be able to find an owner, and then the money will all be yours, and if you do find an owner, he will certainly offer more of a reward than twenty dollars."

"I take the pocket-book?" said Matt, considerably surprised by the offer.

"Yes; I really can't wait, and I do not feel satisfied to take that money with me."

"But, supposing I do not find the owner, do you not want part of the money?"

"No; you can keep it all."

This certainly seemed a very liberal offer, and had Matt had less experience of the world at large, he might have accepted on the spot. But the apparent open-heartedness of the stranger only served to make him more cautious.

"Let us count the money and see how much there is in the pocket-book," he remarked, hardly knowing what else to say.

"No, I haven't time to do that," said the stranger hastily. "As it is, I have now barely ten minutes in which to get to the depot. If you want to accept my offer, give me the twenty dollars, and I'll run for the depot."

And the man moved around as if in the greatest hurry of his life.