Clever as was Frank's disguise, it did not deceive the detective for an instant.
"Well, young man, you are on time, I see?" he said, abruptly, peering beneath the low slouched hat. "What have you learned? You have got the sealed parchment that should accompany the will, I hope? Otherwise, your chances of finding your legacy are mighty slim."
"I have learned nothing, excepting the fact that my mother escaped from the private asylum up-town where she had been confined over a week ago."
"And the parchment?"
"Was not in the box, Mr. Hook. Here it is, with all the papers it contained. I have examined every one of them, and it is not there."
He drew a small tin box from beneath his coat as he spoke and placed it in the detective's hands.
"That's bad for us," replied Caleb Hook, opening the box and examining the papers one by one. "These seem to relate to all sorts of matters. Surely this cannot be the box in which the will was originally contained."
"I can't say—it is all that was found by the boys. I——"
"Seek not the parchment. Watch and wait, for the day of vengeance is at hand!"
Plainly heard by both the man and the boy, these words rang out upon the silence of the deserted street.