Page:Air Service Boys Flying for France.djvu/40

Rh out to Tom. "I should say that rascal will have a most decided limp to his gait for some days to come."

"Then everywhere I go I'll keep on the lookout for any man who walks with a cane, and limps as though each step caused him pain," suggested Tom, perhaps in a semi-humorous mood, though he hardly felt as though the subject was one to be treated lightly.

"Perhaps I had better send this fragment of cloth to the detective who's looking for Adolph Tuessig," continued Mr. Raymond reflectively. "It might afford him an excellent clue, in case he manages to find the German secret agent of the Kaiser."

"You seem to feel absolutely certain, Father, that this man must have been the same thief who visited the house before."

"There is no question about it in my mind, Son," returned the other firmly. "He has realized that what he managed to secure is only a fragment of the whole;. and so he either came back himself, or else sent an accomplice, to try to find the rest of the papers containing my secret invention."

As the air was cold, and neither of them had fully dressed, the two spent no more time in the open, saying a last word of commendation to the dog, and then retiring indoors.