“Were you trying to arrest some one?” asked Dick eagerly.
“Just that,” was the reply. “The Department found nearly a year ago that some one was getting out some very clever imitations of ten-dollar bank-notes of the series of 1902. I was instructed to find the counterfeiters and arrest them. With me was a man named Brady. You’ve seen him.”
“The man at the wharf!” cried Chub. “The fellow that helped us with the launch that day, Roy! Remember? Isn’t that right, Mr. Noon?”
“That’s right. He was watching the freight and people that went out from Silver Cove because I discovered finally that the counterfeit money was being sent to New York from this point. I took up the vocation of book agent since it provided me with an excuse for visiting all the houses around here. About the time you boys came to the island—I was camping on the shore of the mainland then—we got word from New York that a new batch of the bills had made their appearance there. We knew that they didn’t go by express, and satisfied ourselves that they hadn’t gone by freight; so we concluded that they had been taken by messenger, probably by one of the gang itself. As it is easier to come and go unnoticed by boat than by train we decided that the messenger had traveled by river. For awhile I thought that perhaps he had a small boat of some sort and was making trips up and down in it, but after watching closely for over two weeks I gave that notion up. Brady found the messenger when he returned,—spotted him the moment he put his foot off the boat,—and followed him out of town only to lose him finally about three miles north. Then I took up the hunt again and finally located the outfit in a small cabin up in the hills some four miles from here. But we wanted to get all the evidence we could, press, plates that the bills are printed from, and some of the counterfeit money itself; and we wanted to get the whole gang.
“So we watched for awhile, Brady and I taking turns, and found that there were only three of them. One of them, the engraver, was an old hand and the Department had been after him for years. He was the one who took the money down to New York and handed it over to a confederate there for circulation. About two weeks ago he made another trip, and we set men to watch him when he reached the city. He was shadowed, his confederate marked down and we learned that he was coming back to-day. He reached here on the noon boat. At seven o’clock Brady and I went up and rounded up the three of them.”
“Was there fighting?” asked Chub eagerly.
“No, we managed to surprise them. We got their press, some plates, and a few counterfeit bills, enough to convict them, I guess. We took them to the jail at Silver Cove, and at midnight we’ll go on with them to New York. Now you know all about it. I’m sorry I’ve had to deceive you at times, but it’s necessary in my business.”
“Then you weren’t a clown at all?” asked Roy.
“Oh, yes, I was—for awhile. And all the other things I told you about,” answered Billy smilingly. “In the service we have to play many parts. Well, I must, be getting on. I was sorry I couldn’t come to your party, Miss Emery. Perhaps, though, we will meet again some day. I hope so. I’ve enjoyed knowing you and these young gentlemen immensely. It’s been real fun, and it isn’t often I manage to combine fun with business. Good-by.”