Page:The Young Auctioneers.djvu/175

Rh place when he had arrived was the thief, rooted out of what he had considered a safe hiding-place?

"How near were you to me when you saw me first?" he asked of Marvelling.

"We were near enough."

"Did you see my face?"

"Never mind if we did or not."

"No, I must say I didn't see your face," said the constable, who, although a friend of the storekeeper, was yet disposed to be fair and square.

"You probably saw a man, and he ran in this direction," went on Matt.

"We saw you," said Marvelling doggedly. "March him back to the store, Jackson, and we'll make him confess where he has placed the stolen stuff. He doesn't seem to have it with him."

"If you wish to get back your goods you had better listen to what I have to say," returned Matt, trying to keep down his rising temper. "I did not enter your store, but perhaps I can put you on the track of the party who did."

"Oh, pshaw! that's all talk!" snarled Isaac Marvelling. "March him back, Jackson."

"It won't do any harm to listen to his story," said the constable meekly. "I reckon you want to get the goods back more than anything."

"Of course! of course!" responded the