Page:O'Higgins--The Adventures of Detective Barney.djvu/101

 Snider went through the swindler’s papers with appropriate remarks, and then began thoughtfully to pack them back in the bag. “Where did you go from here?”

Barney told the story in an excited incoherency. Snider nodded and nodded. “He ’s slick!” he commented primly, again and again. “He ’s pretty damn slick!”

“Well, how did he know the guy was at the Beaumont?” Barney asked.

“He did n’t know. He took a chance. He figured that Palmer would n’t go far from the depot in the rain. Did n’t you hear him say it was raining hard last night at eight-thirty? He just played a hunch and got away with it.”

“What’s he goin’ to do next?” Barney demanded in the delighted impatience of youth to know the end of the story.

The ringing of the telephone bell interrupted them with what proved to be the answer. “Hello?” Snider said. “Yes, Chief. Yes. His whole outfit ’s in it. And four