"Why, I'm Sam Balderston, the feller who come to the fair to work for the Davis Boat an' Oar Company of Detroit, an' if what Long Jim told me was true, folks have been tryin' to find me in the creek."
"This is the boy who was reported to have been drowned on the day when those lads," here the lawyer pointed to Teddy and Dan, "claim to have seen two men carrying goods into an old barn on the marshes. I fancy he can give us information relative to the true burglars."
"You bet I can," and now that he was the central figure in the scene, all Sam's old assurance returned. "If you mean the fellers what broke into Teddy's uncle's store, I can flash one of them up. The other come to the fair an' didn't get back, so Phil thought he was arrested."
"Who do you mean by the other fellow?" Mr. Harvey asked.
"Why, Long Jim, the same man what swindled Teddy out of his fifteen dollars at Waterville."
"Have you been with him since your disappearance?"
"Most of the time he hung around, an' then ag'in Phil was there."
"Who is Phil?"
"Long Jim's partner. They've got a slat of stuff what has been stole 'round here, an' I know where all of it is."
"Tell the 'Squire the whole story."