Franklin stood stock still as the thought coursed through his brain. Somehow, he now wished he had told Mr. Fells that the discharged workman had been at the house.
Just then he heard the front door below close, and from the window he saw Silas Fells tramp down the street in the direction of the shop. The old man had forgotten certain connections to be used, and he did not wish to run the risk of sending Franklin after them, the youth not yet knowing where things were kept in the place.
Seeing there was nothing else to do, Franklin began work as he had been directed, and before long he became so absorbed that he forgot all about the jewel casket and its contents.
He placed the alarm in position on a bracket between the windows and made the connections with the sashes, and then began to run the wire through the hallway, as he had been told.
While he was at work just outside of the door of the front room, he heard steps on the stairs, and Mrs. Mace appeared.
"Well, how are you getting along, young man?" she asked, in a peculiar high pitch of voice.
"All right, ma'am," replied the youth.
"I want you and Mr. Fells to make a good job of this," continued the woman. "I don't intend to pay a high price for any botch work."
"Mr. Fells said the work was to be done in a first-class manner," returned Franklin.
