"No, Sergeant, no!"
"Been drinking the wrong kind of hootch, I guess!"
"No, Sergeant, no!"
The first thing Hope did after lunch was to search the cell occupied by Five Ace Dan. There he found, stuffed between the logs which comprised one wall of the cell, the first missive written by Long Shorty. He searched but could discover nothing else, but that would do. Off he went to the Commandant.
"I have discovered something, sir, which I have thought sufficiently important to bring direct to you."
"What is it?"
"One of the men I am watching is communicating with a prisoner—Five Ace Dan. I heard him mention the name on the Dome, on Saturday. To-day I followed up the clue and intercepted a note."
Constable Hope took out his notebook. He was a bit nervous and excited. He knew he was running a risk by not reporting, according to regulations, by way of the Sergeant. Smoothbore was eyeing him intently.
Constable Hope handed the letter found in the cell, and his notebook containing the copy of the missive left that morning, to the Commandant, who read them with stern eyes.
"You think these are not the idle words of some partially demented prospector?"