"We can try," said they, and I joined with them in the pursuit—of a phantom, now!
Finally giving up the pursuit, we turned our steps backward over the course we had come. They told me what had happened, and I informed them that I was a detective.
We reached the house.
The constable had been summoned, and the two rascals were already in irons.
The display of my badge made me perfectly solid, and I was taken into the confidence of the authorities when I—to their surprise as well as that of Woglom and his pal—told the names of the pair and gave their pedigree.
When in the light, I saw Woglom and his pal glance at me rather hard. But the change in appearance was so great, that, while they might suspect, they could not be sure that Detective Howard was their recent companion.
Should the forgoing chapter be read by the inhabitants of that little Jersey village, they will for the first time learn who the third person of that burglarious trio really was.
I saw the rascals caged safely, and then returned to the city, as thankful a man as ever stepped in two shoes.
No more such adventures for me.
I was perfectly satisfied with one such experience.