"If you notice," he continued, "it comes from away out West, and it might apply to any one of thousands of cases. 'My Old Mother' might have been deported weeks ago."
"But this is yesterday's wire," Hamilton's friend interjected, "you said there were new developments in the case."
"There are," Farrell replied, drawing another telegram out of his pocket. "This one came this morning, and it's just about as intelligent as the one you have. Notice, though, that it's dated from Chicago early yesterday evening."
"What does it say?" burst out Hamilton, too eager to wait until it was read.
"It's very short," was the answer, "it just reads:
"'—Hold—Mother—'"
"Unsigned?"
"Unsigned, just as before."
"It must be from the same person," Hamilton suggested.
"I think there's little doubt of that," the deportation chief agreed.