“We can tell you what happened to him,” said Ned. “He died in America, and left a lot of money.”
“So!” exclaimed Schmouder. “Well, it will do no one any good these terrible days.”
“Maybe it will, and perhaps it won’t,” replied Bob. “At any rate, he left half his fortune to Professor Snodgrass on condition that our friend find the two nieces and give them the other half of the fortune.”
“Ach! Well, I shall be glad if the young ladies get something,” said Schmouder. 166
“Yes, but the trouble is they won’t get it if they can’t be found,” said Ned. “And Professor Snodgrass won’t get anything, either. Now if you could only tell us where these two girls are to be found, why––”
“That I could not do—no one could in these days!” declared the prisoner earnestly. “I will help you all I can. I am an American at heart, and I hope you will believe me when I say that every gun I fired sent its bullets only into the ground. I could not shoot at my former friends. Germany is no longer a friend to me!”
“Nor to any one else,” declared Bob. “Gee! but it’s tough to be so near the solution and then to fail.”
“Don’t give up yet,” advised Ned. “We can tell Professor Snodgrass what we have learned, and maybe he can find a way to get in communication with the young ladies. It’s a pity Professor Petersen didn’t give them half his fortune when he was alive, and save all this bother.”
“Yes, it would have been a good idea!” scoffed his chum. “The girls and Professor Snodgrass would have been better off. But, as a rule, people don’t do that sort of thing. I haven’t noticed your father—nor mine—giving away half of his possessions. However, the money may be lost entirely now. I don’t see how it can be paid over, inherited or whatever the term is anyhow, in these 167 days. Maybe the war has wiped out Professor Petersen’s fortune.”
“I hardly think that,” said the former janitor. “He was not a German, and his wealth was not in that country. He was a very careful man, and if he left any money to any one you may be sure it is waiting for them, wherever they are.”