auto clubs and garages in different likely
places, personally."

"It's reasonable, and the thing to do," declared Worth with emphasis.
"Phil, why can't you and Dave go to Albany or Rochester this very day?
Stop off at Syracuse. Go up to Pittsfield, too? Paul and I can watch and
hunt around here and follow up what poor little clues we've got."

"Clues? _We_ have no clues!" spoke MacLester, moodily, "unless Hipp and
Earnest are the ones. I've come to the conclusion that those fellows
lied about seeing a man in a raincoat. Who else saw him? Don't we know
that young Earnest can lie like a beggar? Is Hipp any better?"

"But there's the raincoat! Saw it ourselves!" Billy argued.

"Oh, that might belong to anybody! Plenty of old raincoats lying
around," persisted David.

"I'm afraid you're on the wrong track, Mack," Phil Way urged quietly.
Then immediately he added: "We must look up trains at once. Billy's plan
may not be very promising but, goodness, we can't sit around and wait
for the car to come to us!"

So the agreement was made, quite as Worth proposed. Dave and Phil had
just time to catch the 1:24 train--one of the few fast trains that
stopped at Griffin--and they promised to telegraph from Albany the same
night, if they found anything worth reporting.

"I am glad we are making a start toward something, anyway," Worth
remarked, when he and Paul had waved good-bye to the two on the train,
and turned toward the hotel again.

"Tell you what, though, Bill! Let's just keep right on the job every
minute, ourselves, and maybe we can surprise the fellows--get hold of
something awfully important." Paul was pretty serious.

"Sure!" said Billy.

Then came the stumbling block. It was all very well to say "keep on the
job," but just what to do that might be worth while was another problem.

"Funny we never heard a word from that 'A. W. Kull, Harkville, New
York,' if our telegram was ever delivered there," said Worth, thinking
aloud, somewhat later. "Let's ask the office here to find out what
became of our message. It won't cost anything."

"Oh, gravy! That has nothing to do with us! It's the Six we're after,
Bill!" But notwithstanding this objection, the Griffin telegraph office
was asked for the information.

The operator kindly offered to send a service message, as it is called,
desiring the Harkville office to report on the matter. Harkville replied
in due time. The message to "A. W. Kull" was delivered at his res