“Would he follow you there now if you’d let him?” asked Walter.
“Shure! Oi couldn’t lose him if he wance saw me hittin’ th’ trail.”
“Can you call him now?” pursued Walter.
“Sure!” Pat answered promptly.
“Listen, Pat,” said Walter eagerly, and he hurriedly told Pat all about the loss of Mother Merriam’s pin, discreetly omitting all reference to the suspicion against Pat himself so long entertained at the camp.
“Th’ dirthy thafe!” broke in Pat indignantly. “Now who could it be, Oi wonder! None av th’ byes here wud do a thrick loike thot, and yez say there was no sthrangers in camp. But what has all this got to do with Moike?”
“I’m coming to that,” said Walter. “Maybe it hasn’t anything to do with him. That’s what I want to find out. Maybe you don’t remember coming into camp on an errand that morning and visiting Dr. Merriam’s office, but you did. Now, if Mike had been following you, and had seen that pin on the window sill would he have been likely to have picked it up and carried it off?”
“As sure as little pigs has curly tails,” replied Pat with conviction. “Oh, th’ villain! It’s mesilf will wring th’ black neck av him with me own hands wance Oi git thim on him!” he exclaimed, a realizing sense of the situation and the position in which he had been placed dawning on him. “’Tis a wonder yez didn’t arrist me fer th’ thafe, and Oi wud not have blamed ye at all, at all! Just lave me get th’ two hands av me on that burrd! Sure his heart be as black as his coat!”
Walter laughed. “Wait a while, Pat, wait a while,” he said. “We don’t know yet that Mike had anything to do with it. Now here’s my plan: You call Mike so that he can see us start down the trail to Woodcraft. Then you go with me until we get almost in sight of the camp. I’ll leave you there and go ahead. I’ll get a bright button or something and put it on the window sill of Mother Merriam’s window and then get out of sight. Then I’ll whistle three times and you come along in as if you had an errand at the office. Go right by the window and around to the front door, where I’ll meet you. Then we’ll watch Mike and see what he does.”
“Walter, me bye, ’tis a great nut yez have on the two shoulders av yez!” exclaimed Pat admiringly. “We’ll do ut.”