Page:Harry Castlemon - The Steel Horse.djvu/120

 they will know that you have made a mistake."

"Of course, they won't know nothing of the kind," replied the detective, angrily. "They know, and so does everybody else, that Bab understands his business and is not in the habit of making mistakes. Don't you build any hopes on that."

"Colonel Shelly will know that I am not his nephew, won't he? I can at least build some hopes on that."

"He ain't at home, and you know it as well as I do. If he was, you and I wouldn't be here in this carriage. You waited until he went off somewhere on business, and then you skipped."

"Oh, that was the way of it. The colonel must be rich if he can afford to own a whole island so near a big city like New London, mustn't he?"

"Aw! Go on now," replied the detective. "He's awful rich, and so are you. At least you will be one of these days."

"That's news to me. I've seen the time when I thought I was well off if I had fifteen