Page:Dave Porter and his Rivals.djvu/304

288 "Yes."

"But you got me to come to your boardinghouse."

"So I did, but it was those two fellows who put me up to it."

"Where did Shime come in?"

"Oh, he only furnished the auto for a consideration. He was under Jasniff's thumb—and now he is down and out, too."

"You say it was the plot of Jasniff and Merwell to get me in their power. Why did they want to do this?"

"If I tell you, Mr. Porter, will you—ahem!—will you prosecute me?" asked Hooker Montgomery, tremblingly.

"I may prosecute you if you don't tell me."

"As I said before, I didn't understand their plot at first. They said it was only a schoolboy trick. But it was not,—as I found out later. It was a villainous plan to get you into serious trouble."

"What trouble?"

"I don't know all of the particulars, but I know some. From that old stone building you were to be taken to some town near by. I heard them say something about breaking into a jewelry factory, and you were to be drugged and left in the factory. I think they were going to make it appear as if you had broken into the factory, and