"I was going to take you into it, Jerry, when a chance came, but thought that just now it might be well not to tell all the others. Listen, then. You remember that some time ago we were talking over that dog matter, when you spoke of the bloodhounds Colonel Halpin brought up from the South, and which were borrowed by the warden to chase the two escaped prisoners?"
"Why, yes, I remember that," answered the other, looking surprised and curious, as well he might.
"One man was recaptured through the aid of the dogs," went on Frank.
"That's so. You and I heard different stories about how it happened the other poor chap got away. One account said he took to the water, while another spoke of him using red pepper to fuddle the scent of the hounds."
"All right, Jerry. The main point is that he got away, isn't it?"
"It sure is; and I give him credit for some smartness. Any man who can outwit that head warden of the penitentiary, and backed up by a couple of trained hounds, at that, is no slouch, in my opinion."
"Well, it happened that in a paper we had wrapped around some of our things I found an account of that escape. It was interesting to me," said Frank.
"Why?" asked Jerry eagerly.
"For one thing, because it was a thrilling story. Another thing lay in the fact that all sorts of strange possibilities flashed before my mind, for, Jerry, the name of the escaped convict was familiar to me, and will be to you."
Frank gave another hasty look around. Then taking out a piece of paper, evidently torn from an old news sheet, he held it out so that the other could see where he had drawn a heavy black ring with his lead pencil.