CHAPTER XIX
Garry Gets a Shock
At his father's announcement Garry Grayson was startled and horrified.
"Frank Sherwood, Bill Sherwood's brother?" he gasped.
"That's the one," replied Mr. Grayson.
"What was he arrested for?" asked Garry. "Speeding?"
"Far worse than that," was the answer.
"Worse?"
"He's charged with theft."
"What?" fairly shouted Garry. "Theft? Frank Sherwood a thief? Oh, Dad, he can't be! He's been wild and has been running around with that poolroom gang, but he'd never do anything like stealing!"
"I hate to believe it myself," replied his father. "I used to like Frank a lot. And of course a charge isn't proof. But he's been arrested just the same. He's to have a preliminary examination in the police court this morning."
"Poor Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood!" exclaimed Mrs. Grayson. "Their hearts will be broken over this."
"And poor Bill," mourned Garry. "He won't be able to hold his head up. He thinks the world of Frank."
"I'm heartily sorry," declared Garry's father. "The Sherwoods are among the best people of the town. It's too bad Frank ever got in with that poolroom gang. You can't keep bad company and stay clean. Mooney's place ought to be closed up," he added, with a grim tightening of his lips. "I'm going to get the decent people of the town together and see if it can't be done. Mooney is an unprincipled scoundrel."
"What is it they say Frank stole?" asked Garry, whose appetite for breakfast had vanished utterly.
"The paper doesn't give many details," replied his father. "Those will probably come out in the hearing this morning. The case concerns the disappearance of that three thousand dollars or thereabouts that belonged to Mr. Podder."
"Mr. Podder!" exclaimed Garry. "Why, I know something about that matter, Dad! And so do you! Rooster told me about it last fall. Mr. Long gave the money to Sandy to take to his father in pay for some horses Mr. Long had bought of Mr. Podder. Sandy says he stopped at the poolroom on his way home, hung up the coat containing the envelope with the money in it while he shot a game or two at pool, and when he put on his coat again he found only the empty envelope, with the money gone. He was scared, and told his father that Mr. Long hadn't given him the money.
"I don't know whether his father believed him or not, but at any rate he tried to get the money again from Mr. Long and said he'd sue him if it wasn't paid. But as luck would have it, Mr. Long had a witness in Rudolph, the gypsy, that he'd paid the money to Sandy, and so the matter ended. Or I thought it had ended."
"Amos Podder isn't the kind to pocket a loss of that sort if he can help it," replied Mr. Grayson thoughtfully. "He's probably been investigating, and at last he's fixed the thing on Frank Sherwood."
"I don't believe that Frank had anything to do with it!" declared Garry heatedly. "I'll bet the Podders are charging Frank with it just because they know the Sherwoods are well off and will pay the money to get Frank out of trouble. I wouldn't trust either of those Podders any further than I could see them."
"I don't know that I would myself," responded Mr. Grayson. "I hope you're right and that Frank is innocent. We'll know more about it after the examination this morning."
Garry's heart was heavy when he met his chums on the way to school that morning. A quick glance told him that Bill was not among them.
The rest of the bunch had learned of the matter too, and were as much upset over it as Garry himself.
"I don't believe a word of it," said Nick Danter.
"Nor I, either," echoed Rooster. "Frank may have been wild, but he's no thief."
"That dirty crook, Sandy Podder, is at the bottom of this!" pronounced Ted.
"Anything he's connected with smells bad," declared Garry. "Probably the chase was getting hot and he picked on Frank as the goat. I'd like to wring his neck!"
Garry went through his work mechanically that morning, and the sight of Bill's empty seat sent a stab through his heart every time he looked at it.
He knew that his father had planned to attend the examination that morning, and he could hardly wait till evening for his return. The moment Mr. Grayson entered the house Garry opened a fire of questions on him.
"What about that matter of Frank Sherwood, Dad?"
Mr. Grayson shook his head.
"It doesn't look good," he replied, as he hung his hat on the rack and came into the living room.
Garry's heart sank.
"You don't mean that they proved anything against him?"
"Not proved as yet," was the reply. "But there was enough evidence to justify the judge in holding Frank for trial. Of course, this was only a preliminary examination, and the evidence may be disproved when the real trial comes."
"Just what did they say against him?" asked Garry.
"Well," replied Mr. Grayson, "two witnesses testified that they had seen Frank take an envelope from Sandy's coat, open it, transfer something from it, and put the envelope back again."
"Who said that?" asked Garry.
"Gyp Mooney, the proprietor of the poolroom, and Piker Anson, as I believe he is called," replied Mr. Grayson.
"Those bums!" exclaimed Garry hotly. "I wouldn't hang a yellow dog on anything they might say."
"They've got an evil reputation, right enough," admitted Garry's father. "But when a theft takes place in a resort like Mooney's that's about the only kind of witnesses you expect to have. Unless it's refuted, their testimony goes for what the jury thinks it's worth. Then, too, there was Sandy Podder—"
"Oh, that sneak testified against him too, did he?" sneered Garry.
"Yes," replied Mr. Grayson. "But he was very cautious in his testimony. He said he remembered seeing Frank hovering about the place where the coat was hanging, but thought nothing of it at the time. All he really knew, he admitted, was that the money was in the envelope when he hung the coat up and wasn't there when he put it on again. Sandy impressed me all through as knowing more about the matter than he cared to tell."
"You bet he does!" declared Garry. "He's yellow right down to the ground. But what did Frank have to say to all this?"
"Denied the theft utterly," replied Mr. Grayson. "Said he knew nothing at all about it. He admitted that he was in the poolroom that night. Also admitted that Sandy was in his shirt sleeves, so that his coat must have been hanging somewhere. But he denied emphatically that he had taken the money."
"Well, why, then, didn't the judge let him go?" asked Mrs. Grayson. "His testimony ought to be as good as that of those worthless fellows."
"You forget, my dear, that a man charged with crime will almost always deny it," replied her husband. "Against the direct testimony of two men, however worthless, who swore they saw him take the money, and the indirect testimony of still another witness who remembered that he had acted suspiciously, the judge had no recourse but to hold Frank. And that's what he did. Mr. Sherwood furnished bail, and the boy was released from custody. His trial comes up a few weeks from now."
There was a sad silence in the Grayson living room. All were thinking of the terrible heartache that must be the lot of the Sherwood family. Garry especially was thinking of poor Bill.
It was Garry who broke the silence.
"What did you think of it, Dad?" asked Garry. "You've seen a lot of accused people on the witness stand. Did Frank act to you as if he were guilty or innocent?"
Mr. Grayson for once relaxed his usual lawyer's caution.
"Innocent," he stated emphatically. "His face, his actions, his talk, all impressed me that way. I think he's the victim of a conspiracy. I'm going to try to prove it, too, for Mr. Sherwood has put the case in my hands."
"Hooray!" shouted Garry, who had unbounded faith in his father's ability. "Then you'll get Frank off sure!"
"I hope to," replied Mr. Grayson, smiling at his son's enthusiasm. "But one never knows what a jury may do," he added soberly. "I'll do my best to establish Frank's innocence, and I hope enough will develop in the course of the trial to put those poolroom rats out of business."