Young Slavin occupied a humble seat at one side of the room.
"Lawyer made me come," he whispered to Ralph,--"waiting for him now."
"What lawyer?" inquired Ralph in surprise.
"One Van got. Oh, he's been running all the switches this afternoon, I can tell you!"
Just there Van beckoned to Ralph, and led him into an adjoining room, closing the door on the others.
[CHAPTER XXXII--CONCLUSION]
"You had best know just how things stand," remarked Van Sherwin, as he proceeded to tell an interesting story.
Van had learned from Ralph's note sent to him to the town jail that Ike Slump or Mort Bemis had the documents stolen from Mrs. Davis' little tin box.
He had watched his fellow prisoners closely, finally discovering that the papers were carried by Slump in a secret inner coat pocket.
The very night that Slump and Bemis escaped, Van with a window pole reached into the cell, got the garment in question, and left his own coat in its place.