“How much did you give him, Mr. DuBois?” asked Jimmie.
The Englishman made no reply, and Mr. Havens went on with his questions.
“Why did you want to get him to the telegraph office?”
“Well,” began Ben, “you remember when we were talking about the disguise, the dickey, the sporty coat and false beard and all that? This little Jimmie had the nerve to say that the abductor buffaloed Colleton into opening the safe and taking out the papers.”
“And I’ll stick to that, too!” declared Jimmie.
“And the rascal said, too,” Ben went on, “that when Colleton opened the safe, the brigand shut the discarded clothing into it!”
“And I’ll stand by that, too!” declared Jimmie. “They searched the room, didn’t they? They didn’t find the articles of clothing, did they? Well, then, they must have been put in the safe!”
“That’s a poor deduction!” declared Ben.
“Well, you go on and tell what you telegraphed to Washington about,” Jimmie insisted. “Tell the truth, now!”
“I didn’t say I telegraphed to Washington,” Ben insisted.