“I wish we’d see Pickpocket Joe,” remarked Connie.
“Not much chance of it,” replied the detective. “He gives me a wide berth because he knows I’m looking for him.”
Mr. Gregg and the girls reached the station only a minute before the train came in. The detective attentively watched passengers alight from the coaches.
“Ah, there’s someone I know!” he exclaimed.
Going over to the man, he touched him on the arm. The fellow looked worried when he saw Clem Gregg.
“You’re not wanted around here,” the detective said to him. “Get right back on the train. Keep riding unless you want my boys to take you out of town the hard way.”
The man answered something which Veve and Connie did not hear. Clem Gregg took him by the arm and shoved him back onto the train.
Connie had been watching other people who were leaving the train. Suddenly she noticed a man coming around the end of the last car with a small suitcase in his hand.
“Oh, Veve!” she whispered excitedly. “See that man sneaking away from the train! Doesn’t he look almost like Pickpocket Joe?”