Nick followed them closely, and in a moment they were out on the corner.
“Take notice of the place, Chick,” said Nick. “We may want to come back here again.”
The two rascals who had been so severely dealt with by Nick made no attempt to follow them, and it was not long before they were in the street where they could take the cars that would take them to the hotel where they usually stopped when in that city.
It was not until then that Ida told the story of her experience of the night, and of the information she had gained.
After he had listened to it intently, Nick said:
“What you tell us puts an entirely new look upon our case. Chick has picked up a point to add to it, and together they give us some work that will keep us in Philadelphia to-morrow. That brown-bearded man has got to be investigated.”
“Yes,” said Chick, “and we have got to know where he spent the last three days.”
“But what was the meaning of their peculiar treatment of me?” asked Ida.
“They meant to keep you a prisoner,” said Nick, “to prevent you from doing work which they had already found was getting too close to them.”
Nick got up from his chair, and turning to Chick, said: