"Oh!" she gasped. "I have lost it! It is——"
"It has been stolen! You have been robbed! This boy has it!" the black-eyed woman declared with conviction. "What have I told you right along? But I have the thief. No, sir! you may not wr-r-riggle out of my so-strong grasp!"
CHAPTER XVII
TWO EXPLOSIONS
Marty had no desire to have his identity revealed to his cousin in any such belittling manner as this. He had dreamed of Janice getting into some difficulty, and his stepping forward to defend and protect her. But this situation covered him with confusion.
The large woman with the black eyes and the foreign speech possessed muscle, too, as he quickly discovered. He could not twist himself out of her grasp on the dark platform.
"I have the thief," repeated Madam. "Soh!"
"Oh! are you sure?" gasped Janice.
"You haf lost your money, eh?" demanded her companion. "Well, then, I haf secured the thief—soh!"
A trainman came along with a lantern. Its light, suddenly cast upon the little group, revealed Marty's face more clearly.