ed and no trace of
the young girl had yet been obtained the little millionaire assumed an
important and decisive air and hurried down town to "take a hand in the
game" himself.

After a long interview with the Chief of Detectives, Mr. Merrick said
impressively:

"Now, understand, sir; not a hint of this to the newspaper folks. I
won't have any scandal attached to the poor child if I can help it. Set
your whole force to work--at once!--but impress them with the need of
secrecy. My offer is fair and square. I'll give a reward of ten thousand
dollars if Miss Merrick is discovered within twenty-four hours; nine
thousand if she's found during the next twenty-four hours; and so on,
deducting a thousand for each day of delay. That's for the officer who
finds her. For yourself, sir, I intend to express my gratitude as
liberally as the service will allow me to. Is this all clear and
above-board?"

"It is perfectly clear, Mr. Merrick."

"The child must be found--and found blamed quick, too! Great Caesar! Can
a simple affair like this baffle your splendid metropolitan force?"

"Not for long, Mr. Merrick, believe me."

But this assurance proved optimistic. Day by day crept by without a clew
to the missing girl being discovered; without development of any sort.
The Inspector informed Mr. Merrick that "it began to look like a
mystery."

Arthur, even after several sleepless nights, still retained his courage.

"I'm on the right track, sir," he told Uncle John. "The delay is
annoying, but not at all dangerous. So long as Fogerty holds fast to
Mershone Louise is safe, wherever she may be."

"Mershone may have nothing to do with the case."

"I'm positive he has."

"And Louise can't be safe while she's a prisoner, and in the hands of
strangers. I want the girl home! Then I'll know she's safe."

"I want her home, too, sir. But all your men are unable to find her, it
seems. They can't even discover in what direction she was taken, or how.
The brown limousine seems to be no due at all."

"Of course not. There are a thousand brown limousines in New York."

"Do you imagine she's still somewhere in the city, sir?" enquired
Arthur.

"That's my theory," replied Uncle John. "She must be somewhere in the
city. You see it would be almost impossible to get her out of town
without discovery. But I'll admit this detective force is the finest
aggregation of incompetents I've ever known--and I don't believe your
precious Fogerty is an