in a whirl of amazement

"Certainly! What is there remarkable about that?" "And Harry Gilbert really had them?" said Philip, not knowing what to think. "Of course!" "Where were they found?" "In the bureau drawer in his mother's room." "What can it mean?" thought Philip, in a whirl of amazement. "I gave them to Congreve to carry to New York, and how in the world could Gilbert have got hold of them? There must be some mistake somewhere." "What did Harry say when you found the bonds?" he asked. "He denied that they were mine; said they were his." "But where could he get them?" "That is the question. He said they were given to him, or some such ridiculous nonsense, and his mother actually backed him up in this preposterous statement." "I was never so astonished in the whole course of my life!" said Philip; and he spoke the honest truth. "You, my son, are entitled to great credit for your vigilance, and you apprising me that the boy was prowling about the house on the evening in question. I shall make you a present of ten dollars." "Oh, thank you, father," said Philip, his eyes expressing his delight, as his father drew from his pocketbook two five-dollar bills and placed them in his hand. "At any rate, it has turned out pretty lucky for me," he thought to himself. "All the same, it is a puzzle where those bonds came from. Congreve wouldn't go and give them to Harry? No, of course not! Well, the best I can do is to keep mum." "There is one circumstance that rather puzzles me," said the Colonel, reflectively. "What is it, father?" "I only miss two hundred-dollar bonds, and I found in the boy's possession a fifty-dollar bond in addition. That is certainly singular." "So it is," said Philip, showing his own surprise. "He must have stolen that from some other party," continued the Colonel.