Vapp, after a pause.

"I do." Adam Adams drew a long breath.

"Charley, wonderful things can happen in twenty-four hours."

"I know that, Adam."

"Last night I was doomed to die. I was in the hands of one of the worst
band of evil-doers I ever ran across. They drew lots as to who should
slay me--just as the Anarchists draw lots to kill one who has been marked
by them."

"And you escaped?"

"If I hadn't I shouldn't be here. It's a long story. As luck would have
it, the foul deed fell to the lot of a fellow known as Number Four. He
was a weak-kneed chap, and I had previously spoken to him about getting
caught and imprisoned, and I said I would befriend anybody who would
befriend me. He was to shoot me, tie my body in a bag with rocks, and
sink me to the bottom of the river. He said he would do the job only
when alone and the others took him at his word. When he got me where he
wanted me, he told his story. He used to be poor but honest, and was
once sent up for a theft that he had not committed. The gang got hold of
him, when he came out of prison, and he was made to join the band. He
said he did not want to kill anyone, that he was sick of what he had been
doing, and wanted to reform. I promised him a thousand dollars if he
would let me go, and promised not to testify against him, if he would
tell me all he knew. He took me at my word, and sank a sack full of
grass and stones to the bottom of the river, instead of yours truly.
Then he came away with me, told me some astonishing things, took his
thousand dollars; and I haven't seen him since, and I doubt if he will
ever show himself again."

"You were more than lucky. But what is this band--if it is any of my
business?"

Adam Adams leaned forward.

"Don't breathe it to a soul, not even at headquarters," he whispered. "I
have located a band of counterfeiters--the makers of that clever
counterfeit bill on the Excelsior National Bank of New York. You've
heard of it--the one they said was printed from the Racksburg plates."

"Sure, the one Fields tried to run to earth last year."

"The same."

"That's a big feather in your cap."

"In following up one thread I seem to have gotten away from another. I
started out to find the murderer of Mr. and Mrs. Langmore. I thought I
had a line on one fellow, but it would seem now that he can readily prove
a complete _alibi_."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to keep your eyes on certain peo