"Now tell me," he said, drawing the newsboy aside to a place where they would not be overheard².

 

"First give me my car fare."

 

"All right. Here's a quarter. Never mind the change."

 

"You've made a fortun' by fiddling³, you have," said the newsboy, in surprise.

 

"I am not a fiddler. I am a detective."

 

The newsboy whistled.

 

"You're a young one."

 

"Never mind that. Go ahead with your story."

 

The newsboy described his following Hartley to Donovan's.

 

Hartley went in, and he directly afterward⁴.

 

"What sort of a place is it?" asked Dan.

 

"It's a saloon."

 

"Perhaps he only went in for a drink," suggested Dan, uneasily⁵.

 

[Pg 261]

 

"No, he didn't call for nothing to drink. I saw him take out some money and give to the man and the woman."

 

"What man and what woman?"

 

"They was the Donovans."

 

"How long did you stay?"

 

"Ten minutes. I axed old Donovan to buy a paper, and he wouldn't. Then I sat down for a minute, makin' believe I was tired. They looked at me, but I didn't appear to be noticin' 'em, and they let me stay."

 

"Did you see anything of a little girl?" asked Dan, eagerly.

 

"Yes, there was a little gal⁶ came in. The woman called her Katy."

 

Dan's spirits sank. It was Mrs. Donovan's daughter, he feared, not the child he was seeking.

首页  上一页 [1] [2]  [3]  下一页  尾页