“No buts about it,” Captain Jim smiled. “I know you are not afraid but I am and anyhow I don’t think the chances of you learning anything are worth the risk. You see if they should spot you even if you got away it would put them on their guard and spill the beans so far as our catching them is concerned. They probably have some way of warning that fellow if the coast is not clear and we’d have our trouble for nothing. You understand we haven’t really got a thing on them yet.”
“But we saw—”
“Yes, I know you saw them load something into that plane but you couldn’t go into court and swear that it was whiskey, could you?”
“I suppose not,” Bob said slowly. “But—”
“Oh, of course there’s not a bit of doubt as to what it was, but when it comes to evidence, well, you’ve got to get ’em with the goods on them, that’s all.”
“Of course you’re right, I only thought—”
“You thought you could do something more. I know but believe me you and that brother of yours have done enough on this job.”
“All right, I’ll give it up.”
“Talking about evidence,” the Captain began, “I remember a case only last fall at the Bangor fair. I saw a fellow hand another a flask about half full of what looked like whiskey. The man drained it and passed the empty flask back together with a bill.
“Then I stepped up and arrested the two of them. The fellow who had sold the whiskey was a bit too quick for me and before I could stop him he threw the bottle over a fence near by. Oh, yes, I got the pieces later and they smelled of whiskey but do you think that did any good? Not so you’d notice it. When they were brought into court they both swore that the bottle had contained nothing but cold tea and of course I couldn’t swear that it didn’t. So the judge had to let them go.”