“Honestly,” declared Mercer, “I wish I knew, suh, I certainly do. But—” Mercer’s jaw fell; he turned sharply at the soft whir of an electric stanhope gently entering the patio through the great arched gateway. It stopped abreast of the group, and its only occupant, a handsome young man, jumped nimbly out of the vehicle. He greeted them with a polite removal of his cap, a bow, and a flashing smile which made the circuit of the beholders. Birdsall and the colonel recognized the traveling enthusiast of the Fireless Stove.
The colonel took matters into his own hands.
“I think you’re the young gentleman who took my nephew away,” said he. “Will you kindly tell us where he is?”
“And don’t get giddy, young gentleman,” Birdsall chimed in, “because we know perfectly well that you are not the agent of the Peerless Fireless Stove.”
“I’ve got one here on trial, and I’ve come back to see if they like it,” explained the young man, in silken accents, but with a dancing gleam of the eyes.
“We are going to keep it,” said Mercer. “Kito,” calling the unseen Jap, “fetch that Fireless Stove this gentleman left us, and show it to this gentleman here.”
“Oh, cut it out!” Birdsall waved him off. “It’s only ten minutes before our fellows will come. You can put the police court wise with all that. Try it on them; it don’t go with us.”
“Where is the boy?” said the colonel.
“Tell him, if you know,” said Mercer. “This gentleman,” he explained, “left a stove with us to test. He was here about it this morning, and we gave Archie to him to take to the Palace Hotel.”
“And he is there now,” said the young man.