“Good thing!” commented Connorton.
“He’s to be examined as to his sanity,” added Paulson.
“He ought to be,” asserted Connorton.
“But if he is pronounced insane,” said Paulson, significantly, “he can’t transfer any property rights.”
“Great Scott!” exclaimed Connorton, again almost jumping out of his chair; “we’ve got to get him out, haven’t we?”
“We have,” replied Paulson.
“And if we get him out,” complained Connorton, dismally, “he’ll go over the falls in a barrel.”
CONNORTON and Paulson had no difficulty in securing permission to talk with Hartley, and they approached with considerable confidence the cell in which he was detained. It had occurred to them, upon reflection, that they were now in a most advantageous position in the matter of their business relations with the inventor. He was friendless in a strange city. He was believed to be of unsound mind, and his actions had been erratic enough to give color to that belief. He could hardly hope to secure his release without their help, and, if so, they could impose their own terms before extending that help.
To their surprise, they found him quite cheerful and apparently indifferent or blind to the seriousness of his predicament.
