"Yo's come back too late, gemmen."
"How so?" asked Old King Brady, in puzzled tones.
"Massa Mason an' Sim done gone an hour ago."
"Where to?"
"York."
The detectives were keenly disappointed.
However, they did not complain, and went away to search the swamp again for some trace of the missing body.
No success crowned their efforts.
In fact, after a useless search, covering a period of three days, they at length gave up the hunt in despair and returned to New York.
It was useless to remain prowling around that bleak swamp trying to dig up a mystery that baffled all their ingenuity.