“Very well,” announced the girl, apparently enjoying the situation, which to all others in the room, Nash included, was more than mystifying. “I’ll satisfy you.”
She looked around at the circle of interested engineers. Nash found her eyes, and held them. Something mirrored in their depths sent his pulses racing.
“Last night, after leaving Mr. Nash in charge of the detectives,” she resumed, “I rode back to the ranch. Arrived there, I found Mr. Hooker, who, as he has previously explained, was preparing to stop overnight. When I discovered him he was flat on his back under the machine, coat off, sleeves rolled up, his hands covered with grease and dirt. At his suggestion, I volunteered to hold the lantern, and later he asked me to carry his coat into the house. I did so. As I picked up the garment from the ground, some papers dropped out. I was on the point of returning them when——”
Hooker, with a loud cry, suddenly leaped to his feet, flung aside the chair in which he had been sitting, and which blocked his way, and bolted for the door.
“Don’t let him get away!” Miss Breen cried.
Instantly several of the men sprang into action, and two of them caught Hooker as he was about to disappear. They brought him back to the table, and forced him into a chair, where he sat huddled, white-lipped and trembling.
“I’m sorry Mr. Hooker spoiled my climax,” Miss Breen said, smiling. “Evidently he has just searched his pockets, and discovered the false specifications which he took from Mr. Nash’s cabin yesterday afternoon are missing. However,” she added, opening a little hand bag which she carried, “they are not lost. Here, gentlemen, are Mr. Nash’s proofs.”
A bomb, thrown through the window, would not have caused greater confusion. The false specifications were hurriedly examined by all the men. Nash’s writing and figures on the margins were instantly identified.
Sigsbee, stunned by the unexpected twist in his carefully laid plot, sat as one stricken dumb.
“What have you to say, Mr. Hooker?” asked the president, after the excitement had subsided.