hing to tell me whether those notes I had in my
possession were the last batch I had from the bank, or odd ones left
over from previous consignments. They may have been in my case for
months."

"Both Winter and I could identify our watches," I hazarded.

"Of course," replied Mannering, "if your Motor Pirate is fool enough to
attempt to pawn them you may get the chance; but if he sells them to a
receiver, they'll go straight into the melting pot."

Winter lit a cigarette and Mannering turned to me. "What was the extent
of your loss?"

"Ten in gold, thirty in notes, and say thirty for my watch. My loss is
comparatively light."

"You know the numbers of your notes, I suppose?" he inquired, as he lit
a cigarette in turn.

"Yes," I replied, "I'm not quite so casual as Winter."

"There's some clue for the police to work upon, then."

"It might prove to be so, only Winter thinks we show up so badly in the
whole affair that he won't hear of my giving information."

"The fact is," said Winter, "Maitland slept soundly through the whole
affair, and it wouldn't be sporting to give him away."

"I see----" began Mannering.

Winter deftly changed the subject. "What puzzles me," he said, "is the
kind of motor the fellow employed to propel his car. I know of nothing
at present on the market anything like so effective. I've seen 'em all."

"Your loss doesn't seem to trouble you much, anyhow," commented
Mannering.

"I would willingly give a hundred times as much for a duplicate of that
motor. I should be pretty sure to get my money back once I put it on the
market."

"If there's all that value in it, why should the owner go in for highway
robbery?" I asked.

"That's just what I fail to understand," said Winter. "From what I could
see of it, our friend the Motor Pirate is possessed of an ideal car,
graceful in shape, making no noise, running with a minimum of vibration
and a maximum of speed. Why, there's a fortune in it."

"Of course it is quite impossible that the motive power can be
electricity?" remarked Mannering, gazing into the fire as if he could
see a solution of the mystery therein.

"Quite out of the question. Any one who has the slightest knowledge of
motoring would know it to be impossible, even if the Pirate had devised
a storage battery which would knock Edison's latest invention into a
cocked hat. But supposing he had achieved the feat, remember that,
according to the newspaper reports, he was at Plymo