quarter of an hour he began to fidget. Would the talkers never
stop? Why, their chattering seemed to be endless? Even through the
door he could hear Mr. Crowninshield's curt tones and the eager rise
and fall of his voice. Once he laughed as if pleased, and twice Walter
heard a cry of "_Good!_" When he did appear on the piazza his face was
wreathed in smiles.

"That brother of yours is a Jim Dandy!" he exclaimed, rubbing his
hands. "You did a mighty clever thing, young one, to get him on the
job. We never can thank you enough."

"Me?"

"Certainly you! Why didn't you tell me more about this family paragon
of yours? I didn't take in he was a radio operator."

"I--I--I don't know," replied Walter, bewildered.

"Well, his quick action has helped us no end--that is all I can say,"
announced the owner of Surfside triumphantly. "The instant he got your
message he went to work with his wireless outfit. He flashed messages
to all the stations in the outlying cities or else telephoned, and
inside of half an hour every road to Boston and to New York was
watched. You see a man with a little dog had stopped at his station
for water. The wood road skirting our shore goes right by Seaver Bay
and probably the thief reasoned that no one would be on the lookout
for him on such an out-of-the-way thoroughfare. At any rate he had to
have water for his engine and he took a chance. He told your brother
he was touring the Cape, and had you not called Bob up he would have
thought no more of the happening. But when you told him about Lola
immediately he pricked up his ears. The dog tallied perfectly with
what you had previously told him and the fact that it was a Pekingese
made him suspicious. Leaping at the possibility that his visitor was
in reality the man wanted, he sent out a broadcast describing the
culprit.

"With an accurate description of the man, car, and dog we cannot fail
to get tidings soon. And at any rate we have something definite to
work on. We know what the thief looks like, what he had on, the make
of his car and all about him. Unquestionably he will be stopped either
between here and Boston or between here and New York,--for he is
probably aiming for one of those cities. I myself rather think he will
go straight through to Boston. He would not venture to try New York
until later because he would be well aware that the authorities there
would be waiting for him. He isn't going to be trapped. So he will try
to do the th