Ralph Henry Barbour

“ They had to keep at the side of the road lest he should turn around and see them, and frequently, when the road ran straight for some distance, they were forced to hide in the bushes or behind walls. Luckily, however, there are many twists and turns between Ferry Hill and Silver Cove, and so the detectives’ task was not so difficult. Never once, as far as they could tell, did Dick look back.
“He doesn’t suspect,” said Roy triumphantly.
“No,” chuckled Chub, “little does he reck that the human bloodhounds are hot upon his trail.” ”

“ We can make believe we want some pencils or something.”
“All right,” Roy agreed. They cast anxious glances at the store clock from time to time. Never had five minutes taken so long to pass! But finally:
“Come on,” said Roy. “Time’s up.”
“We’ll ask for some pencils if he’s there,” whispered Chub as they crossed the street. The stationery store was small and as soon as they had closed the door behind them they saw that Dick had vanished. The only occupant was a middle-aged man who was arranging some boxes on one of the shelves back of a counter. ”

“ Vidocq again takes up the relentless pursuit.”
“What we need,” said Roy, “is a clue. Every detective ought to have a clue.”
“That’s so; supposing we ask him for one? We might tell him that if he doesn’t give us a clue we’ll refuse to pay any more attention to him.”
“I guess he’d feel pretty bad,” laughed Roy.
After supper they went into the study-room and sat where they could watch the front door. Presently Dick came down-stairs and passed out. Roy and Chub looked at each other inquiringly, and Chub got half out of his chair. But Roy shook his head. ”