Duncan meditated a moment, puffing softly at his cigarette.
“It’s not easy to get anything away from Merriwell,” he said. “I presume Merriwell will carry that paper in his pocket. If some fellow could find an opportunity to go through his pockets——”
“At the gymnasium, say?”
“Not so easy there, for he has a locker into which he puts his valuables. Of course, a man might find an opportunity to break open that locker, but it’s dangerous trying such a thing.”
“He might be held up on the highway and robbed.”
“That gives me an idea,” muttered Dunc, scratching his head. “Saw my sister this afternoon, and she told me that Merriwell and Buckhart were going to call on her this evening. Unless they’re taking the girls out, those chaps usually walk when they call there. The Midhursts live pretty well out toward the outskirts of the city. I suppose a man might be held up out that way. It would be much easier, though, if one of those chaps was going out there alone.”
“Don’t you suppose that we could do it?” asked Wolfe. “We could wear masks and turn our coats, and have a couple of pistols, and I’ll bet we could pull off the job.”
“I don’t know,” murmured Dunc, rubbing his chin. “It would be better to have two more fellows with us.”
“But we don’t want to let anybody else in on this. Besides, I don’t know whom you’ll get. The most of our crowd wouldn’t have nerve enough to tackle the job. They got pretty well upset after that racket with Tucker, when the old warehouse burned.”
“I wouldn’t try to get any of the old crowd,” said Dunc. “I think I know one chap we might induce to take a hand. He’s a tough customer, and I don’t suppose it would be the first holdup he’s ever participated in. More than that, he has a grudge against Merriwell. It would be well enough to take him into the game in case he’ll work for a reasonable sum. I think he will, as he’s on his uppers at the present time. He’s a big brute, and he might make some impression on Buckhart and Merriwell. Unless we can get some one like that, I hardly think we had better tackle the job.”