"Didn't he follow you to Europe?"
"He did. But he wasn't there long before he cleared out," added Robert.
By the manner in which Remington spoke he felt that the doctor had told the truth about Frederic Vernon, and if this was so it was likely that Vernon had not returned to Chicago.
"I'll wager he worried his aunt a good bit while he was there," went on Remington, closing one eye suggestively.
"He did. But I must go on, because I do not wish to miss meeting a friend of mine."
Robert tried to proceed, but again the seedy doctor detained him.
"Hold on a bit, Frost. I--er--that is, how are you fixed?"
"What do you mean?"
"Can you lend me ten dollars for a few days? I'm out trying to collect some bills from my patients, but all of them seem to be out of town."
This statement was a falsehood, for Remington had neither an office nor a practice left, and the few people that he did treat now and then had to pay him his small fee in spot cash.