“It certainly is,” agreed the reporter.
Larry had to tell his story all over again, and then Mr. Randall had to relate his share in it. Then Larry had to be told all that had happened since he was kidnapped, and the clock was striking midnight when they all got through.
“Do you think they’ll ever arrest those men?” asked Mr. Randall of Mr. Newton.
“I hardly think so,” was the answer. “They are probably far enough off now. Besides they were only tools in the hand of someone else. The real criminal is the well-dressed man Larry describes. We may be able to catch him.”
“Young man, you’re quite a hero,” the old gentleman exclaimed suddenly, turning to Larry. “I wouldn’t have climbed across those window sills for a pile of money.”
“I wouldn’t have done it for money, either,” said Larry. “But I wanted to get away. Besides, it was dark and I couldn’t see how far it was to fall if I had looked down, which I didn’t dare do.”
“I guess your picture’ll be in the papers to-morrow,” said Lucy to her brother.
“I think it would be better to keep all mention of the details of the matter out of the press,” said Mr. Newton. “That’s a strange thing for a reporter to say, but this case is different, and concerns the Leader more than any other papers. The unions are fighting us, and we must fight them. We can do it best by keeping quiet in this case. I think I can manage so that little of this will get into the other papers.
“The police station you went to is in a lonely part of the city, and reporters are seldom sent there. The headquarters men will not bother much with the story, and beyond the mere fact that Larry has been found I think we will not go into details.”
This plan was followed and the next day small items appeared in all the papers, to the effect that the missing boy was at home.