Colonel Dartwell drew a long breath.
“Those footpads told me he was in a hotel in the neighborhood. You are sure you are right?”
“Yes, sir. To be truthful, I was mixed up in the scrape that took Crazy Jim to prison.”
“Indeed. Would you mind telling me about it? You don’t look like a boy that would do wrong.”
“It wasn’t my fault. Crazy Jim had a packet belonging to me—a packet containing some valuable documents. I called for them and found he had given them up to an enemy of mine.”
“And that led to the row.”
“Not exactly. He is a bad man, and there was a little girl living with him, and he—”
As Jerry spoke Colonel Dartwell grasped him by the arm.
“Stop! What did you say about a little girl?” he demanded, eagerly.
“I said there was a little girl living with him. He used to send her out to beg. He got it into his head that she had set me against him, and he started to beat her. I told her to run away, and then he attacked me and got arrested.”