At the end of an hour the youth was discouraged, and slowly and thoughtfully he made his way to his boarding-house.
How much had been missed by the escape of Barker! Not only the chance of recovering the stolen goods, but also that of interviewing the robber concerning the shrouded past.
“But I’ll meet him again some day, and then I won’t trust him to any fool of a policeman,” said Bob to himself.
CHAPTER X
BOB’S FIRST CUSTOMER
Mr. Starleigh was much interested in the story Bob had to tell him on the following morning.
“Lawrence has got back, and his desk was robbed of a hundred and five dollars, so he says.”
“Those chaps are bad ones,” said the boy. “They steal wherever they happen to be.”
The old photographer advised Bob to make a complaint against the officer who had allowed Barker to slip away, but Bob shook his head.
“What’s the use? He would find some excuse, and I would only get into trouble. No; after all, I’ll simply do what I can alone, and let the rest go.”
A week passed, and Bob made rapid strides in the art he was following, for photography now interested him more than ever before.