“What motive had you? You kidnapped him!”
“Not exactly. We had no intention of harming him. He came accidentally into the room between Mrs. Winter’s and Mr. Keatcham’s suites. Standing in that room, trying to stanch the bleeding of a sudden hemorrhage of the nose, he overheard me and my friend—”
“You?” asked the colonel laconically of the young Harvard man.
“I,” smilingly confessed the latter. “I am ready to own up. You are a decent fellow, and you are shrewd. You ought to be on our side, not fighting us. I tell you, you don’t want to have the boy turn up safe and sound any more than I do. Mr. Mercer was talking to me, and the kid overheard. We heard him and went into the room—”
“How?”
“Knocked on the door and he opened it. And we jumped on him. It was life and death for us not to be blown on; so, as we didn’t wish to kill the kid, and as we didn’t know the youngster well enough to trust him then—although we might, for he is game and the whitest chap!—but we didn’t know—why, we just told him he would have to stay with us a while until our rush was over. That was all we meant; and we let him ’phone you.”
“How about his great-aunt—the cruel anxiety—”
“Anxiety nothing!” began the other man, but a glance from Mercer cut him short.
The Southerner took the word in his slow, gentle voice. “I tried to reassure our aunt, Colonel Winter. I think I succeeded. She telephoned and I told her it was all right. As for Archie, after we talked with him, he was willing enough to go. He stole out with my friend inside of five minutes, while you all were searching your rooms. It was he insisted on calling you up, lest you should be worried. He said you were right afraid of kidnappers, and you would be sending the police after us. You can call Mrs. Winter up and find out if I am not telling you the exact facts.”
“Very well, I will,” said Winter. They met the sullen detective at the door. Cary Mercer, with his mirthless smile, led the way. Mercer rang up the hotel for Winter, himself. To the colonel’s vast relief Aunt Rebecca answered the call.