“Don’t fear, they’ll not take ’em from me,” she said, and in such a determined way that Jerry was compelled to laugh.
The call at a detective’s office was soon over, and it was not as satisfactory as our hero had anticipated.
“You mustn’t expect too much,” laughed the colonel. “In spite of the thrilling detective stories published, detectives are only ordinary men, and cannot do the impossible. Mr. Gray will no doubt go to work in his own way and do the best he can.”
Their next movement was to cross to Brooklyn. Here the pair started on the hunt for the carriage that had carried Nellie Ardell off.
An hour was spent in a fruitless search. They were about to give it up, when they saw a carriage coming down to the ferry that was covered with dust and mud.
“That looks as if it had been out in the country a good distance,” observed Colonel Dartwell. “I’ll stop the driver and see what he has to say. It can do no harm.”
Walking up in front of the team he motioned for the driver to halt.
“Want a carriage, boss?”
“No, I want to know where you have been?” demanded the westerner.
At this question the driver seemed plainly disconcerted. He looked around, and, seeing a clear space to his left, whipped up his animals and sped off.