“He’s been robbed, too!” cried a boy laughing, and the crowd joined in. The policeman smiled, nodded at Larry, and then interest in him was over.
“It takes money these days to make a sensation,” mused the young reporter as he hurried on. “Now I’ve got to make some plans. Guess I’ll report back to the office, and then go home. I can think better there.”
As he hurried up Wall street, toward Broadway, he saw, just coming out from a side entrance to the building in which the looted bank was located, a figure that was vaguely familiar. It was that of a young man of about Larry’s build.
“I’ve seen him before,” mused the young reporter. “I wonder where it was. If he turned around——”
As if in answer to Larry’s thoughts, the young man ahead of him did turn around, and as soon as our hero had a glimpse of the face he exclaimed:
“The subway shover! That’s the man I had the row with—the one who stepped on that girl’s foot! No wonder I knew him! I wonder if he’ll make trouble?”
But the youth, after a quick glance at Larry—a glance that seemed to be filled with suspicion—hurried on, and he was soon lost in the crowd that now thronged Broadway.
“I’m glad he didn’t come back, and demand satisfaction,” thought Larry, “though I’d have given it to him if he’d done so. And so we meet again, Mr. Pusher. And, if I’m not mistaken, you came from the Consolidated Bank. I must look you up when I’ve traced the valise clew as far as it goes. Well, I’ve got my work cut out for me,” and Larry shook his head, for, the more he thought of the bank mystery, the deeper it seemed to become.
CHAPTER VI
UNEXPECTED EVIDENCE
“Larry, aren’t you late to-night?” asked his mother, as, shortly after his talk with the bank directors, the young reporter entered the apartment where he lived. “Oh, are you going out of town?” she inquired, as she caught sight of the valise.