"And it isn't there?"
"Joe and I have just searched the place high and low. The stuff isn't there. And from the fact that there are no footprints or marks of any kind in the dust, I don't think any one has been in the place for a long time."
"The old tower has been closed for years."
"So we thought," Joe interjected, "that he might have been mistaken and that he had really hidden the stuff in the new tower instead."
Hurd Applegate rubbed his chin meditatively. His manner toward the boys had undergone a change, and it was evident that he was impressed by their story.
"So this fellow confessed to the robbery, eh?"
"He admitted everything. He was a man who once worked around Bayport and he knew this locality pretty well. He had been hanging around the city for some days before the robbery."
"Well," said Applegate slowly, "if he says he hid the stuff in the old tower and it isn't there, he must have meant the new tower, just as you say."
"Will you let us search it?"
"I'll do more than that. I'll help you. I'm just as anxious to get the jewels and bonds back as anybody."