CHAPTER III.—THE SECRET OF THE MILL STREAM.THE following morning Hardacre was up and about early, and Werrick in the cellar heard him moving in the kitchen above. Presently the cellar flap was lifted and Werrick was ordered to come up. With some difficulty, as his ankle was considerably swollen and most painful, he climbed the steep steps. Hardacre frowned when he saw the condition of the injured limb.
“Well, at any rate you won’t be able to run away in a hurry,” he grunted. He nodded unpleasantly. “So if this hidden money turns out to be all imagination, you can still have your thrashing before being handed over to the police.”
Werrick forced a smile to his face. “But the money’s here,” he said confidently, “and it ought to be easy to find. Fifty thousand pounds in bank-notes, even if t
