She stopped, but already she had said enough—too much, Bart thought. There was a feeling of intense pain in his heart, and he mentally cried:
“She loves him—she loves him still!”
But aloud he said:
“Elsie, I will do everything I can. You know that. He is my friend—my dearest friend, and I’ll do anything for him.”
CHAPTER XVII.
JIMMY ON THE TRAIL.
King Jimmy the First had thrown aside the robes of royalty for the time. He was on the trail! He was also in disguise! From his bosom he had removed the ensign of his exalted station, he had turned up his coat-collar, and his old hat was pulled far down over his eyes, while upon his upper lip was a smooch of charcoal that was intended to represent a mustache. He was now Old Ferret, the Sleepless Detective.
Already his investigations had revealed that the name of the man with whom Frank Merriwell had departed from the railway-station was Cunningham. Cunningham—ha! why, that was the name of the desperate Blue Ridge outlaw! S’death! Here was a clue! It was enough for Old Ferret. The Sleepless Detective would track the outlaw to his lair. The victim of the outlaw’s perfidious machinations should be rescued at all hazards.
So Old Ferret set about his task of tracking the outlaw down. He found that the man’s associates in town were a most disreputable set, indeed; but he went among them boldly and told them that he had been given an important letter to deliver to Mr. Cunningham. It was not Jimmy Lee, of Charlottesville, who told this falsehood, mind you; it was Old Ferret, the Sleepless Detective, and he did it for a good cause.
One man offered to take the letter to Cunningham, but Old Ferret declined to transfer such an important message into the care of any other person. He must deliver it himself as a sacred duty. Then somebody told the detective that Cunningham hung out at Ben Shannon’s a great deal. Where was Ben Shannon’s? The information was obtained, and the Sleepless Detective took the trail afoot and alone.
On the way the great sleuth made inquiries, and he learned that a man driving such a team as Cunningham’s and accompanied by a smooth-faced youth had passed along that road. Farther on he also learned that the team had run away on that road, and the beardless youth had leaped astride one of the horses and pulled the animals down to a walk.