"Haven't you thought of anything?"
"I've got a plan that may work."
Here Julius entered, and his entrance produced a brief interruption.
"What luck, Julius?" asked Morgan.
"Nothing much. I got a bundle to carry for a quarter."
"Have you got the money?"
"There's ten cents. I bought my supper with the rest."
"Give it to me."
Jack Morgan took the ten cents and thrust it into his pocket.
"You ain't smart, Julius," he said. "You ought to have brought more than that."
"Buy me a blacking-box and I will," said Julius.
"I'll see about it. But, Marlowe, you were just goin' to tell me of your plan."
"Shall I tell before him?" asked Marlowe, indicating the boy.
"Drive ahead. He's one of us."
"There's a house on Madison avenue that I've heard about. It belongs to a man that's gone to Europe."
"Then there isn't much left in it worth taking."
"That's where you're wrong. I've found out that he has left all his plate locked up in a safe on the second floor and some bonds, too, it's most likely."
"Has he got much?"
"So I hear."
"Who told you?"
"A man that was in his service. He was discharged for drunkenness, and he owes this Mr. Talbot a grudge."
"Is he a thief himself?"
"No, but he is willing to help us, out of revenge."
"Then you can depend on his information."
"Yes; there is no doubt of it."
"Is the house empty?"
"No; there's a family in charge."
"That's bad."
"Not so bad; it's a widow, with two children--one a little boy of eight or thereabouts, the other sixteen."
"Do you know anything about them?"
"The oldest boy is a street peddler. He keeps a necktie stand below the Astor House."
Hitherto Julius had not taken much interest in the conversation. That his disreputable guardian should be planning a burglary did not strike him with surprise. It seemed only a matter of course. But the last remark of Marlowe put a different face upon the matter. The description was so exact that he felt almost certain the boy spoken of must be his new friend, to whom he had been indebted for the best dinner he had eaten for many a day. He began to listen now, but not too obtrusively, as that might awaken suspicion.
"A boy of sixteen may give trouble," said Jack Morgan.
"He is easily disposed of," said Marlowe, indifferently.
"I wish it were only the woman and little boy we had to deal with."
"We can easily secure the boy's absence for that night."
"How?"
"I can't tell yet, but there's plenty of ways. He might be arrested on a false charge and kept over night in the station-house. Or there's other ways. But I can't tell till I know more about him. A letter might be sent him, asking him to go over to Brooklyn."
"Wouldn't do. His mother would get somebody else in his place."
"We must find out all about him. How's that boy of yours? Is he sharp?"
"He ought to be. He's knocked about for himself long enough."
"We can try him. Come here, my son."
Julius rose from his seat and walked up to the pair.
"Hark you, my lad, can you do as you're told?"
Julius nodded.
"We've got something for you to do. It'll lead to money--do you hear?"
"I hear," said Julius.
"Have you heard what we were talking about?"
"I heard, but I didn't mind."
"Then I want you to hear, and mind, too, now. Have you ever seen a necktie stand between Dey and Cortlandt streets?"