“I did not say it was near here, did I?” asked the boy innocently.
“Oh!” Colonel Mendix breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought—”
“But I am told it is quite near here,” went on Oliver.
Colonel Mendix jumped to his feet.
“Who told you that?” he demanded.
“Mr. Arthur Bright.”
“Arthur Bright! I don’t know such a man.”
“His son says you do.”
“His son!” the man staggered back. “Where did you meet his son?”
“His son was in San Francisco about a week ago.”