“And let me know, too. You see all this bothersome mystery is worrying me.”
“You first of all,” declared Ralph, “and you won’t lose by coöperating with us.”
“I see you’re smart boys,” observed the inexperienced marshal, “and I trust in your word to straighten out this tangle.”
“What, Ralph?” broke in Zeph eagerly, as they left the place.
“I think I’ve got the clew.”
“To what?”
“The whole pay car business--at least the start of one.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I simply listened to Glen’s grandfather at his dummy ticker. Poor old man! He fancies he is being sought for by great railroad systems all over the world to take charge of their business. He ticked off all kinds of telegrams to important people. Then I caught the thread of a message he seemed to have particularly on his mind. It is just ten words, and of course must be the one he wanted the marshal to send. There it is.”
Ralph showed a card on the back of which he had penciled down the following words: