With an exclamation of alarm, Carroll hurried downstairs to the editorial rooms to interview the office boy. The youngster was not in sight.
“Seen anything of Miggsy?” he inquired anxiously of one of the reporters, whose desk was near the door.
“Not lately. The last time I saw him, Mr. Carroll, was half an hour ago, when he went out to do that errand for you.”
“An errand for me?”
“Yes, that’s what he said. He was going out just as I[Pg 53] came in, and he seemed to be in a great hurry. I stopped him on the stairway, and jokingly asked him what all the rush was about. He begged me not to delay him, as you had just sent him out on an errand of great importance which had to be attended to immediately.”
Carroll turned to Hawley, who had followed him downstairs. They exchanged glances of consternation.
“What do you make of it?” the proprietor of the Bulletin said hoarsely.
The Camera Chap smiled grimly. “It looks very much as if our young friend Miggsy had gone over to the enemy,” he said.
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” growled Carroll. “I can’t imagine any other reason for his actions. The little ingrate! I’ve been pretty good to that kid. I never thought that he’d do me a trick of this sort.”
He paced the floor nervously, his big fists clenched. “Great grief!” he muttered. “Can it really be possible that all our trouble has been for nothing—that we’re not going to publish those wonderful snapshots, after all?”