The young man stopped as he was pulling out a box from one of the shelves, and replied, “I’m sorry. The cards are twenty-five cents a hundred and we don’t sell less than a package of a hundred.”
“Never mind, then,” announced Paul and walked out of the store.
Paul felt cheerful; he seethed with excitement. Now he was getting somewhere, he thought. Upon reflection he realized that he was nowhere nearer to a solution of the mystery than he was before. Yet he could not dispel his feeling of excitement.
He felt someone touch him on the arm and Paul turned around. “Hello, Captain Bob,” he called.
“Hello, yourself, my boy,” was the reply. “What are you doing just now?”
“Nothing much. I am at your disposal, if you want me to do something for you,” he offered.
“No, I don’t want you to do anything for me,” and the captain shook his head. “I merely want to have a few words with you.”
“That’s all right with me. What is it you want?”
“Let’s first move away from the main thoroughfare,” remarked Captain Bob, smiling. “We may get knocked over by all these people rushing past us.”