"It's the same man you telegraphed to," I returned.
Mr. Allen Price stopped short and nearly dropped his handbag. My unexpected reply had taken the "wind out of his sails."
"I telegraphed to?" he repeated.
"Exactly."
"But—but I telegraphed to no one."
"Yes, you did."
"Why, my dear young friend, you are mistaken."
"I'm not your dear friend," I returned with spirit. "You telegraphed to Chris Holtzmann to beware of me. Why did you do it?"
The man's face fell considerably, and he did not answer. I went on:&—
"You are following me and trying to defeat the object of my trip to Chicago. But you shall not do it. You pretend to be an ordinary traveller, but you are nothing more than a spy sent on by Mr. Aaron Woodward to stop me. But I have found you out, and now you can go back to him and tell him that his little plan didn't work."