"At a little place called Claymore, about fifty miles south of here. He had been seen there last week, but he went away and no one knew where I could find him. So I gave up the search and came home."

"Have you dropped the case?"

Fenton Hardy laughed.

"Did you ever hear of me dropping a case before it was cleared up in one way or another?"

"No," admitted Frank. "But I thought you may have considered it a waste of time."

"It was a waste of time to keep following him about and never catching up with him. I decided to try another angle. Oh, we'll pick up Todham Todd yet."

"Joe and I have some information for you. But perhaps you know it already. Miss Todd gave us a few facts about her brother's appearance—"

"I have all that. I have a pretty good description of him, and I managed to get hold of a photograph at the college."

"Did you hear about his shoelaces?" asked Joe, excitedly.

"His shoelaces?"