Von Holtz shook his head violently, even as he bit his lips.
“No! No!” he protested. “The Herr Professor Denham is in the most terrible, most deadly danger! I—I have been very nearly mad, Herr Reames. The Ragged Men may seize him!… I telegraphed to you. I have not slept for four nights. I have worked! I have racked my brains! I have gone nearly insane, trying to rescue the Herr Professor! And I—”
Tommy stared.
“Four days?” he said. “The thing, whatever it is, has been going on for four days?”
“Five,” said Von Holtz nervously. “It was only to-day that I thought of you, Herr Reames. The Herr Professor Denham had praised your articles highly. He said that you were the only man who would be able to understand his work. Five days ago—”
Tommy grunted.
“If he’s been in danger for five days,” he said skeptically, “he’s not in such a bad fix or it’d have been over. Will you phone for a repairman? Then we’ll see what it’s all about.”
The lean arms began to wave again as Von Holtz said desperately:
“But Herr Reames, it is urgent! The Herr Professor is in deadly danger!”