Page:Ned Wilding's Disappearance.djvu/149

Rh iron ring in the wall, and looked stout enough to hold several men. It was long enough to reach to the ground, as Ned could see.

"Hope I don't have to use it," he thought.

Leaving his valise in his room, Ned went downstairs, again, the old elevator taking considerable time on the trip.

"I'll look around a bit, have some supper and then go to bed," he decided. "Maybe my luck will change to-morrow."

Ned after walking about the streets for awhile went back to the same restaurant where he had dined before, as he did not fancy the looks of his hotel well enough to eat there. He strolled about through the brilliantly lighted streets after supper pondering on his curious plight, and then went back to the Imperial.

As he approached the desk to get to the elevator he saw a stout man in close conversation with the clerk. He could hear the latter, in reply to some question, say:

"Guess we haven't got anybody here you want, Jim. No new ones came except a kid. Queer thing about him, though, I believe he's registered under the wrong name. Acts sort of funny."

"What name did he give?" asked the stout man.