"'Inquiry complete. The man is a pure adventurer, character nil.'
"'We must act immediately,' says Dan.
"'I have telephoned all over the village for Sam,' I says. 'They say he's out in his car with Aleck an' Lizzie. I asked them to send him here as soon as he returns.'
"'They're down on the Post Road I met 'em on my way here,' says
Dan. 'We can overtake that car easy.'
"Well, the wedding-day was approaching an' Aleck had the money, an' the thought occurred to me that he might give 'em the slip somewhere on the road an' get away with it. I left word in the store that if Sam got back before I saw him he was to wait with Aleck in my office until I returned, an' off we started like a baseball on its way from the box to the catcher.
"An officer on his motor-cycle overhauled us on the Post Road. He knew me.
"'It's a case o' sickness,' I says, 'an' we're after Sam Henshaw.'
"'He's gone down the road an' hasn't come back yet,' says the officer.
"I passed him a ten-dollar bill.
"'Keep within sight of us,' I says. 'We may need you any minute.'