“That I cannot tell you,” replied Dick gravely. “I have pledged my solemn word. I must leave you at eleven o’clock, returning whence I came. And meanwhile nobody must ask me a single question about my place of hiding. There now—that’s all. What shall it be first, Miss Merle, a piano solo or a duet with the violin?”
“Supper, I should say,” exclaimed Mrs. Darlington, as she left the room.
CHAPTER XXIV—In a Tight Corner
DICK’S after-dark visit to La Siesta was only the first of several that followed at intervals of a few days. He came and departed mysteriously, and during his brief stay every precaution was taken that no one except his few trusted friends should know of his presence. But by some means or other a whisper had reached the ear of the sleuth, Leach Sharkey, that the fugitive had been seen at the home of Mrs. Darlington.
When the news was imparted to Ben Thurston, the old man quivered from excitement.
“At La Siesta, do you tell me? Let us ride over there at once, and search the place from basement to attic.”
“No, no,” replied Sharkey. “I’ve got my scouts out. Don’t you worry. We must wait till the night bird comes back. Then we’ll trap him like a fat quail.”
“All right. Have my automobile ready, and a bunch of well-armed fellows right here, so that we can make a rush over at a moment’s notice. By God, I’ve been disappointed in everything else—lost my son, lost my ranch, lost my home. But I’m not going to lose that man. I’m going to get him, even if we shoot him down on sight as an outlawed fugitive from justice with a price on his head.”