st, have reason to
hesitate before giving my hand as an honest man to an honest man; and
now----' He paused, and I with him.

'And now,' I supplemented, 'we are neither of us idlers. This is your
beat?'

'For the present.'

'Then--I hope we shall meet again. Success to you.'

'And to you.' He lifted his hat as I turned away, and looking back a
moment after, I saw him once more a Columbian Guard on duty, piloting
an old woman across the street and away from a sprinkling-cart.

'Handsome enough to be a prince,' I thought. 'An American prince, and
poor, doubtless. Honest, I'll wager; and with a mystery. I wonder if
the world is pouring all its mysteries into this White City of the
world.'

CHAPTER IX.

IN DISGUISE.

Two days had passed since my talk with my friend the guard, and
although Brainerd, myself, and others had thoroughly searched Midway
Plaisance, hoping to obtain a glimpse of our quarry or a hint of their
presence, we had been unsuccessful. We found many things in Midway,
but neither Greenback Bob nor his friend Delbras.

'I tell you,' Dave had said on the previous night, when we were
discussing our failure and its probable reasons--'I tell you, Carl,
these men began their business in Midway--I'm sure of it; and I
solemnly believe that you're the fellow that scared them away.'

'I, indeed--how?'

'Simply by springing upon them in that Camp affair. I believe they
spotted you.'

I felt chapfallen, for I was more than half inclined to believe that
Dave's notion was the correct one, and I wondered that I had not
thought of this myself.

'And if they did,' went on Dave, 'it would be the most natural thing
in the world for them to "fold up their tents like the Arabs," etc.
Don't you think so?'

'Granting your first premises,' I conceded grudgingly, 'your second,
of course, are tenable. Perhaps you have an idea where their "tents"
are now spread?'

'Oh, you always try the sarcastic dodge when you are beaten a bit,'
grinned Dave good-humouredly; 'but that's all right. I think we may as
well give the Midway a rest, at any rate.'

'I suppose you have noted that the Woman's Building has had more than
its share of stealing of late?' said I.

''M--no.'

'Well, you should read the papers, and look in at the bureau, once a
day at least. They've had an attack upon the exhibits--failed, I
believe--and a number of pockets picked.'

'Do you suggest the Woman's Building?'

'To-morrow I suggest