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Rh on the errand. Evidently Thomas Buckman did not like the part the speculator was taking, but he could not help himself.

In a few minutes the Irish boy shuffled in. He had not expected a summons to the office and he was plainly disconcerted, and this was not changed for the better when he saw Franklin sitting on one of the chairs beside Belden Brice.

"You sent for me, Mr. Buckman?" he asked in a voice that was far from clear and steady.

"I sent for you, young man," said the speculator. "Sit down."

Mike Nolan selected a chair in the furthest corner and deposited himself upon it very gingerly, as though he was afraid there were hidden pins in it.

"Now, Nolan, we want you to tell us a straight story," began the speculator. "Keep quiet, please, Mr. Buckman," he added as the superintendent was about to speak. "I will conduct the examination."

"What do you want me to tell?" faltered Mike Nolan. He had always had a dread of that private office and would have preferred being questioned in the workshop.

"I want you to tell me if it was you, or Felter, or Jackson, who proposed the visit to this place at midnight last night?" asked Belden Brice quickly and severely.

The question was a stunner for the Irish boy,