“Whew! you’re going pretty strong when you use a word like that, Ralph!”
“They deserve it every time, I tell you,” persisted the other. “What else would you call men who even scheme to have a store in this town robbed, and then fix it so that marked bills or pieces of jewelry will be found in the pockets of certain scouts, you among the number?”
Hugh stared hard at Ralph as though he could hardly believe his ears.
“You haven’t been dreaming that, have you, Ralph?” he finally asked, as he took hold of the other’s sleeve and drew him around so that he could look straight into Ralph’s eyes, which, however, did not waver before his gaze.
“Not much I haven’t, Hugh,” he was told like a flash. “I give you my word of honor I heard that very scheme spoken of by three of the leading spirits in this fight against a clean town—Gaffney, who used to run that poolroom; Slimmons, the retired boxer, who used to be athletic trainer at the schools before somehow he took to drinking so heavy they had to drop him (and he’s hung around Gaffney’s place ever since trying to pick up some sort of living giving boxing lessons, etc.). There was a third man present, but he doesn’t really live in town. I suspect he’s been interested on the quiet in dodging the law here by supplying shady resorts with booze, and is losing money as long as they stay shut up.”
“Where did all this take place, tell me, Ralph?”
“Listen then, Hugh. I happened to be coming across lots down at the bowling alley corner when I saw those three men dodge into the place. You know it’s been closed to play ever since they found things were going on there that had no business in Oakvale. Well, I thought there was something queer about the way those three men acted before they dodged in, and my old sense of investigation at once began to urge me to take a peek and see what they might be up to. If any sort of game was going on, the police ought to know, you understand, Hugh?”
“Yes, and you were acting within your rights as a member of the regular police force, in figuring on doing so,” the other assured him.
Ralph smiled grimly as though pleased to receive that reassurance from the one in whom he placed unlimited confidence.
“Well, it was as easy as falling off a log for me to discover a window that I could crawl through,” Ralph went on to say, “and nobody saw me do it either. I haven’t been watching mink, otter, and foxes pull off their sly tricks without learning a thing or two. So once I got inside the old building it wasn’t much of a job to find where they were sitting, jabbering away like everything, in low voices, as if they didn’t want to be heard outside.