"Quite likely."
"And yet you say they are not here?"
"That is what I said. And what I still say.""I don't understand—"
"I do not say they were not here. All I say is that they are not here."
"They're gone? They've been taken away? Is that what you mean?" demanded the astonished sophomore.
"Precisely."
"Let's go in and search anyway," said one of the party now thoroughly angry.
"I advise you not to attempt that," said the minister quietly.
"Why not?" said the sophomore impudently.
"Because one of my neighbors is a deputy sheriff and housebreaking is a somewhat serious offense."