He could not help overhearing some of the things that were said, and as the words came to him he gave a sudden start.
“So that’s the game, eh?” he murmured. “No wonder they want that deed. By the Great Horn Spoon! but I think I’m on the right track now!”
By this time the proprietor returned with the change, but Mr. Newton was in no hurry to go. He pretended he wanted to buy a pipe, and, while examining the cigar-dealer’s stock, he kept his ears open for anything more that might issue from the rear room. He could only catch a stray word now and again, but what he heard gave him much satisfaction.
Finally he made a selection of a pipe, and paid for it. Leaving the store he hurried off, a smile displacing the former discouraged look his face had worn.
“I wonder why I never thought of that before!” he exclaimed, softly. “That’s what the Aldermanic Committee has been meeting in secret so often for. That’s the reason they would never admit that any business was done. My! but this is going to be a big thing! I can see a fine story in it, and maybe a beat. I can see something good for Larry, too, and if it doesn’t bring his brother back, and land some people in jail, I’m going to miss my guess,” and Mr. Newton felt so elated over the discovery he had accidentally made that he felt like hopping and skipping along the street. Thinking that would hardly be in keeping with the dignity of a reporter, however, he fell to whistling to relieve his spirits, and warbled forth tuneful strains from a comic opera, as being most appropriate.
“Now to see Larry, and tell him the good news,” thought Mr. Newton. “We’ll have to make careful plans to close in on the gang. The only thing lacking is to know where they are, but with what I know I’ll have no trouble finding them. Whoop! I feel like a boy again!”
He went to the Dexter home, where, though he did not expect it, he found Larry. It was late in the afternoon, and Mr. Newton was tired with his quest.
“Any news?” he asked Larry.
“A little. How about you?”
“Everything we could wish for. Larry, my boy, I think we’ve got ’em. We’ll nab ’em inside of two days.”