rth said. "My
mother used to handle the doctor something like that; and now it's
Barbara--little Bobsie Wallace--God bless her!"

He went on into the dining room. I looked after his unconscious,
departing figure and thought he deserved a good licking. Why couldn't he
have spoken that way to the girl herself? Why hadn't he taken her home,
instead of leaving it to Edwards? Then I got my call and answered,

"This is Boyne. Put them through."

In a minute came Roberts' voice.

"Hello, Mr. Boyne?"

"Yes. What you got?"

"Telegram--Hicks--Los Angeles. He's located Steve Skeels--"

"Read me the wire," I broke in.

"All right." A pause, then, "'Skeels arrived here from 'Frisco this
morning shall I arrest?'"

"Good!" I exclaimed. "Wire him to keep Steve under surveillance and
await instructions. Tell him not to lose him. Get it, Roberts? Hustle
it. I'll be in by nine. Good-by," and I hung up.

I looked around; Worth had gone into the dining room; I stepped to the
door and saw him kneeling before an open lower door of the built-in
sideboard, and noted that the compartment had been steel lined and
Yale-locked, making a sort of safe. A lamp at the end of an extension
wire stood on the floor beside him; he looked around at me over his
shoulder as I put my head in to say,

"Stock in your old suitcase has gone up a notch, Worth. We've caught
Skeels."

"So soon?" was all he said. But my news seemed to decide something for
him; with a sharp gesture of finality, he put into his breast pocket the
package of papers he had been looking at.

When a little later, Edwards came in, Worth was waiting for him in the
hall.

"Do we go now?" the older man asked, wincing. Worth nodded.

"Take your machine, Jim," he said. "We can park it at Fuller's and walk
back from there. Boyne's roadster is in our garage."

"Anything wrong with Eddie Hughes?" Edwards asked as he stepped in to
get his driving gloves. "I passed him out there headed for town lugging
a lot of freight, and the fellow growled like a dog when I spoke to
him."

"I fired him. Come on, Jim--let's get out of this."

"Hold on, Worth," I took a hand. "Fired Hughes? When?"

"While I was fixing up that door--after you and Bobs came to the house."

"What in God's name for?" I asked in exasperation.

"For giving me back talk," said the youth who never quarreled with any
one.

He and Edwards tramped out together. I realized that the hostile son and
an alienated friend