The sheriff went on:

"Seemed to have an idea that Roy Prescott was here at the time. They even
went so far as to intimate that----"

But old Mr. Harding was tugging frantically at the sheriff's arm. He was
seconded by Mortlake. Interpreting the signals aright, he stopped short.

"In fact, it looked suspicious," he concluded lamely. He turned and went
off, followed by Harding and Mortlake.

"How did you ever come to make such a mistake?" snarled old Harding, as
they walked away much crestfallen, "we haven't a leg to stand on, now."

"Why, confound it all," retorted Mortlake, "my sister mentioned a young
man being with the girl in the aeroplane, and I took it for granted that
it was her brother."

"And a nice mess you've got us both into, with your 'taking it for
granted,'" snorted the old miserly financier of Sandy Beach. "It looks as
if we'd got ourselves in a trap now."

"Nonsense. Who's to know we have the money? I'll take the first
opportunity to send it back, and no more will be heard of the matter.
Lucky I didn't hide it in his aeroplane, as I intended to do."

"Yes; but we've still got the cub as our rival. I wish I could think of
some plan to choke him off. That scheme of yours to blame the robbery on
him would have been all right if you'd only made sure of your facts
first."