"Perhaps."
"I shall make it worth your while. How much do you want?"
"All I can get. I'll have to steal it!"
"What!"
"Yes, I'll have to steal it. It cannot be had in any other way. Why do you start?"
"I didn't think you'd have to do that!"
"Yes. You see Tomlinson, when he moved from those furnished rooms, took everything he could carry to his brother's lodgings near Washington Square. The book is in a sealed trunk on the third floor. Tomlinson made his brother promise that this trunk was not to be disturbed under any circumstances until he came out of jail a free man. I've tried in every way—by bribery and everything—but his brother will not touch it. He seems afraid of that old trunk. I'll get it, however, at all costs. Are you with me?"
Hooker was, above everything, a true bibliophile. He instantly answered:
"Yes, Colonel! Go the limit. I'll back you."
The Colonel without another word picked up his hat and left the office.