"I'm sure that I never have," Harry replied.
"Then he wasn't one of our men in this camp at any time?" Mr. Prenter interjected.
"We have never had a man in the camp as large as this negro," Harry rejoined.
"Such a very large black man ought not to be hard for the detectives to locate," Prenter continued.
"Very good, sir. Then you can let the sleuths have a try at the matter,"
Tom suggested.
"Have you any telegraph blanks here?"
Tom went inside, coming out with a pad of blanks. Mr. Prenter addressed a dispatch to the head of a detective agency in Mobile.
"We'll get the 'bus driver to take this over to town," said Mr. Prenter, as he signed the dispatch.
"You had better send your dispatch by Nicolas, who is so faithful that he can't be pumped, and he never talks about things that he shouldn't."
The Mexican was accordingly sent away in the stage. When he returned
Nicolas busied himself with getting supper and setting it on the table.
Superintendent Renshaw returned from the work in time to join the others
at table.