Forgotten by Captain Tucker, for there was much work to be done and the police officer was busy probing into automobiles, Dr. Stone and Lady stood just outside the toll-house door. The smoke of a seasoned pipe drifted blue and fragrant with the breeze. Joe, trembling inside the toll-house, could see his uncle’s face. It was stamped with the calm, bland, inscrutable patience of the blind.
Automobiles shuttled past, and there was a delay as each car was scrutinized. A line formed, and horns began to honk impatiently. Joe, twisting his head to see how far back the line extended, was frozen by the cold crack of his uncle’s voice.
“I’m ready for you, Tucker.”
The boy wrenched himself around. The movement had changed his position; the sun, slanting in through the doorway, was in his eyes. The blurred outline of a car was in front of the house, and he was conscious of his uncle moving toward the car. Fire burned in his throat, and the world hung in a stark silence. And out of that silence came his uncle’s voice.
“Rog,” Dr. Stone drawled, “I’m afraid you’re going to miss your breakfast in Baltimore tomorrow.”
There was an oath and a movement in the car. Joe, frozen, forgot to crouch and hug the floor. When would the shooting start? And then another form was beside his uncle, and the sun glinted menacingly on cold, blue steel.
“Keep your hands up where I can see them,” Captain Tucker ordered.
Joe, sick with relief, felt his knees begin to buckle and bend.
Two hours later he sat in a room in the red-bricked Town Hall with his uncle and Captain Tucker. The captain, putting down a telephone, leaned far back in his chair and gave a sigh.
“That was New York calling,” he announced. “They’ve picked up John. He worked for the New York bank that shipped the money. The bank here has counted the shipment and it’s all there down to the last nickel.” His eyes went slowly from the boy to the dog and to the blind man. “Doctor, I don’t know how you did it. We were all looking for that shabby car——”