“I don’t understand,” said Mr. Havens.
“Why, I had it all doped out that the men Dick Sherman captured were the men who abducted Colleton.”
“That’s just the way I had it figured!” exclaimed Jimmie.
“And now they turn out to be just whiskey smugglers!” exclaimed Ben in disgust. “They probably never saw Washington, nor heard of Colleton, nor even read one of the lying advertisements of the Kuro company.”
“We’ve been through a rotten bad night,” Jimmie agreed, “without getting anywhere! Say, Ben,” he added, “how did you induce the aviator on the Louise to swing back to the landing and give himself up?”
“I got the drop on him!” laughed Ben.
“But didn’t he have just as good a chance to get the drop on you?”
“He emptied his automatic before I did mine,” was the modest reply.
“Did you look after the men who were shot in the gulch?” Carl inquired in a moment.
“When I made the last trip,” Ben explained, “I found a drunken man sitting by the fire. He said the men were dead and that he would give them burial.”