"Why, Mrs. Sanford," he replied, "I told you they couldn't hold me. There was absolutely no evidence against me, and they were afraid to even lock me up. I have been ten years in this business, in New Orleans and elsewhere, and I have never been caught yet. The only thing which puzzles me, is to account for my being arrested at all!"
"You don't suspect that I had any hand in it, I hope?" asked Mrs. Sanford.
"Oh, no indeed! I trust you perfectly; but I think that one of those bindery girls may have seen me with Adamson on the street. One of them came into the station while I was there, and looked at me very hard, as if trying to identify me. Still, I don't see how she could have suspected anything, unless some one put her up to it."
"Perhaps some bartender may have seen you drinking with him during the afternoon," she suggested, "and he may have described you to the police."
"Well, I should like to know who it was," he said, savagely, "for I would shoot him like a dog."
As Mrs. Sanford had rented Ingham's room, there was no place for him to stay, and he went away about midnight, telling her that he would return next day. He did not go there, however, until after dark, as he felt confident that the police would try to "shadow" him. He found Mrs. Sanford quite uneasy about him, as she thought he had been arrested again. He invited her to go to the theatre, and, on their way home, they stopped at a restaurant to get a late supper. As there were no accommodations for him, he was obliged to go to a hotel for the night, but Mrs. Sanford promised to have a bed put into the unfurnished room for him the next day. The next afternoon he called again, and Mrs. Sanford said that Charlie had been there, and had told her all about their visit to the theatre the night before. She said that he knew exactly where they had been, what they had had for supper, and what they had paid. Ingham was thus made aware that he was being watched, and his position, therefore, became very embarrassing.
"Oh! by the way," she exclaimed, suddenly, "did I tell you that I got back my watch?"
"No; how did you recover it?" he asked.
"Well, that man Graves had it, and I had to pay one hundred dollars to get it back."
"That was a great shame," said Ingham, sympathetically, as if he fully believed her.