One evening, as Jack and Nat came back from a visit to police headquarters, they found John much excited.
"I think I'm on the right track," he said.
"How?" asked Jack.
"Listen to this" John went on, holding up a newspaper, and he read:
"Attention, all who suffer or are in distress. Professor Ali Baba, one of the descendants of the Forty Thieves, who has devoted his life to undoing the wrong they did, will give palm readings, star gazings, trance answers, locate the lost, and, by a method learned from an Indian Yogi, double your money. Readings one dollar up."
"You're not going to be taken in by one of those foolish clairvoyants, are you?" asked Jack.
"Not exactly," said John. "But if I am right I think this Professor
Ali Baba is Hemp Smith, or Professor Punjab under another name."
"What makes you think so?" inquired Nat. "Rip-snorting radiators! But if it should be!"
"That last clause about doubling your money, by the Indian method leads me to believe it," said John. "That is how Punjab tried to rob Mr. Post. Now I'm going to try this and see what it amounts to."
"But he'll know you as soon as he sees you," objected Nat.