“Indeed, I did!” was the reply.
“Did you know at that time, or have you learned since, that a post-office inspector named Colleton had been abducted from the post-office building in Washington?” continued the boy.
“I read about it in the papers at San Francisco.”
“Did you see in the newspapers in San Francisco a description of the younger man who stood in the corridor at the door of Colleton’s room?”
“I think I did!” answered DuBois.
“When you found the sporty coat, the false beard, and the dickey with the wing collar and the red tie, and the hat in the valise you bought of the porter, did that remind you of anything?”
The Englishman nodded and waited eagerly for the boy to go on.
“You knew those things were in the valise you bought before you came to our camp, didn’t you?” asked Ben.
“Indeed, I did,” was the reply, “although I tried to make you boys believe that I had then discovered them for the first time.”
“I understand,” Jimmie said, “and I think,” he went on, “that I understand your motive in telling that little white lie at that time. You wanted to see what effect the production of the articles would have on us, didn’t you? You suspected that we were here on some mission connected with the disappearance of Colleton, but you weren’t sure!”