He came around the corner again and crossed to the other side of the street. Walking slowly and cautiously, he came to the tree opposite the house. Taking shelter, Jack looked across. A wave of pity swept through him at the scene he saw. On the very same spot, almost where he fell, the man was now sitting up and his shoulders were trembling. From all appearances, the man was sobbing bitterly, as though his heart were breaking.
Who is this man, Jack asked himself. And what is the matter with him? What had ever happened to him to cause him to become what he was. Jack asked himself all those questions but had no answers. He determined to find out. He must find out, he thought to himself.
Jack looked at his watch and saw that it was almost nine o’clock. He realized that he was terribly hungry. He decided not to wait around any more but to go home. On the way he remembered that he had promised Paul that he would come over and tell him if anything had happened. But he did not feel like it at the moment and he went straight home and called Paul on the telephone.
CHAPTER IX
Who Is Mr. Grey?
Paul and Ken were listening attentively to Jack’s story of what had happened the night before. Paul commented, “It’s really a pity. What we have to do is to catch him in the act as soon as possible and have him arrested. Then something might be done for him.”
“What could be done for him?” asked Ken.
“Oh, I don’t know. Most likely he would be put into an asylum. That would be best, too, I guess.”