He put it in his pocket, without taking the trouble to remove the contents.

CHAPTER XXVIII THE GUEST OF TWO HOTELS

Andy wandered about till nine o’clock, determined to see as much of the city as possible in the limited time which he had at his disposal; but at last he became tired, and returned to the hotel.  Fairfax was seated in the reading-room.  He looked up as Andy entered.

“Have you been looking around the city?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Andy; “I wanted to improve my time.”

“I suppose, as this is your first visit, you see a good deal that is new?”

“It’s all new,” said Andy.  “I feel tired, walking around so much.”

“No doubt.  Are you going to bed now?”

“I guess I’ll turn in.”

“I shan’t go up quite yet.  I have been staying here quietly, and I don’t feel tired.  I shall go up in the course of an hour or two.”

“Good-night, then,” said Andy.

“Good-night.  I hope you’ll sleep sound,” said Fairfax, who was certainly entirely sincere in this wish, as the success of his plans depended on the soundness of our hero’s repose.

Andy went upstairs, and lighted the gas in his bedroom.  He noticed the door communicating with the next one, and tried it, but found it to be locked.

“That’s all right,” said Andy.  “Nobody can get in that way.”

He locked the principal door, and bolted it, also, which seemed to make him perfectly secure.

“Now,” thought he, after undressing, “where shall I put the money?”

This was an important question, as he had between five hundred and a thousand dollars belonging to the Misses Grant, of which it was his duty to take even more care than if it belonged to himself.

“I guess I’ll put it under the bolster,” he reflected, “covering it up with the sheet.  Nobody can get in, that I can see, but it is best to be careful.”

In emptying his pockets, he came across the pocketbook, with its sham contents, of which mention has already been made.

“I’ll leave that in my pocket,” he said to himself, with a smile.  “I’m not afraid of losing that.  By the powers, it wouldn’t be much of a prize to the man that took it; I’m sure of that.”

He laid his clothes on a chair, in the middle of the room, and jumped into bed, when he soon sank into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Fairfax remained below in the reading-room.  He was not at all sleepy, as he had told Andy, and his mind was full of the scheme of robbery, which appeared so promising.  He was glad Andy had retired so early, as he would be asleep sooner, and this would make things favorable for his entering his young companion’s chamber.  It was his intention, after he had secured the “plunder”—­to adopt a Western phrase—­to come downstairs and leave the hotel, not to return, as otherwise, as soon as Andy should discover his loss, the door between the two rooms would, naturally, point to him as the thief.