A few minutes later all fears and doubts were dispelled.
Dave Darrin rose to greet the newcomers informing them, in a whisper, that all was still well in the old shanty below.
He of the brogans and club heard a slight noise outside. Swiftly he rose and darted to the door, ready to pounce.
But he beheld the policemen, with the newspaper trio just behind them. More, Chief Coy and his subordinates had their revolvers drawn.
"Howdy, gents?" was Mr. Brogans' greeting as he dropped his club and tried to grin.
"Take care of him, Hemingway," directed Thief Coy, briefly.
"Me?" demanded Brogans, in feigned astonishment. "What have I done?"
The noise roused Bill, who sprang up. But Bill must have found the police wonderfully soothing, for he quieted down at once.
Both rascals were taken care of. Then Theodore Dodge was found lying bound and gagged on the floor. A ragged, foul-smelling coat had been substituted for the one that had been left at the river's bank. The banker looked up at the intruders with a stupefied leer, betraying neither alarm or pleasure.
As soon as the two rough-looking fellows had been handcuffed Mr. Dodge was freed, and his tongue also, but Chief Coy, after raising the banker and questioning him, muttered: