"Come over here, Hiram, and I'll explain."
Clancy led his companion to a couple of chairs.
"Now," said he, after, they had seated themselves, "we're about to decide whether we're going to Catalina Island, in the morning, or to San Diego."
"That's already decided!" asserted Hill. "Whatever makes you think it ain't?"
"Look at that letter you received at noon, Hiram," went on Clancy. "You were asked to come to eighteen-twenty 'Q' Street, weren't you?"
"Yes," Hiram answered, consulting the letter.
"Well," explained Clancy, "I wired the chief of police at San Diego, asking him who lives at that number in Q Street. If this reply to my message says that Upton Hill lives at that address, then I'll congratulate you, and we will go on together to, San Diego in the morning.
"Sure!"
"But if the message says that some one else lives at the address, it's proof positive that your letter was a fake, and that going to San Diego is worse than a waste of time, eh?"
"Let's see what the message says," parried Hill.