“I did not know about it, dear Judge. You see, it was this way: One of those young reporters had engaged a room in that quiet street around the corner from here, where Bethany goes to school. What is the name of it?”
Titus supplied the name. “It is Garden Street, Mrs. Everest.”
“O, yes—Garden Street. Well, Mr. Busby took a room opposite Mrs. Hume’s. Jennie consulted him, and he told her to go with the man. He would be near her. So Jennie went, and Cracker, scooting after her, reported her movements to Harry Busby. The pretended workman, who called himself Simpson, acted like a gentleman. He talked nicely to Jennie, took her for a walk down Broadway, and invited her to go into Duffy’s for ice cream.”
The Judge did not like this, and Mrs. Everest hastened on: “She did it for Bethany, dear Judge. She felt terribly embarrassed. You know what a nice, quiet girl Jennie is—not one to take up with strangers at all. However, when it came to the ice cream she thought she had gone far enough, and Harry Busby released her. She put up her hand and took off her veil. That was a sign that she was tired of the affair. Busby was watching her through the doorway. He came in, pretended to be an old friend, and that he was jealous to find her with a stranger, and in a quiet way made her come with him.”
“And what came out of that escapade?” asked the Judge, with emphasis.
“Nothing, except that the stranger found that he could not gain any control over Jennie.”
“Did he ask her any questions about Bethany?”
“Not one; he was evidently planning that for another meeting. But he never saw Jennie again. Foiled in that, the kidnapers turned their whole attention on gaining control of the child herself. By the way, we found out that there were just two at first—two young men. One, whose real name was Smalley, called himself Givins; the other, his confederate, who tried to deceive Jennie, called himself Simpson, as I said before. Barry didn’t know his real name.”
“Do you suppose Smalley was the right name of the first one?” asked the Judge, searchingly.
“O, no, but that is the name he mostly goes by, Barry says. Anyway, we had these two fellows well watched, and cleverly watched, for they did not suspect us. You see, there were so many of us, and they were only two. Well, two days ago they both disappeared, and at this point we took our city detectives and the New York detectives into our confidence. One of our own men went to New York with Givins and Simpson, reported to an agency there, and the two men have been watched. We hope to hear of their arrest any time now.”