"That you are a detective employed to shadow me, and I suspect that the man who spoke to me a little while ago is your confederate."
"All right; what you suspect is true."
"And you are a detective?"
"I am."
"And you made my acquaintance with design?"
"I did."
"What is your conclusion?"
"My conclusion is that you are an honorable young man."
"Thank you, and now let me tell you I know nothing about Amalie. I do not know whom to suspect; I so told her mother."
There came a strange glitter in our hero's eyes, and a suspicion that almost caused his heart to stand still. He had reckoned himself a very shrewd, sharp man, but suddenly, and on evidence that would not have aroused a passing comment on the part of most men, he became convinced that he had been magnificently played. He was equal to the occasion, however; he had always been. He was indeed a wonderful man, and he said: