send a couple of plain-clothes men in to talk with him."

And grabbing Bob by the arm, the policeman dragged him toward the door
which led to a cell.




CHAPTER II

BOB FINDS AN UNEXPECTED CHAMPION


Among those who had heard the story of the swindling of the countryman
were several reporters for the great metropolitan afternoon papers, and
as the burly policeman dragged the pathetic figure of the grocer's boy
to the cell, one of these, a particularly clean-cut, wide-awake young
fellow, exclaimed:

"Sergeant, that's the rawest thing I ever saw you do. I don't believe
that boy knows anything more about those 'con' men, and probably not as
much, as you do. It's a shame to lock him up, and I am going to give you
the hottest roast for doing so that the paper will stand for."

"You do, and you'll never set foot inside this station while I'm in
charge," retorted the officer. "If you knew as much about old Dardus as
I do, you wouldn't be so keen to champion this boy. The old man has been
mixed up in many a questionable transaction, and I shouldn't be
surprised if it turned out that he was in league with these fellows who
got that country bumpkin's seven hundred and fifty dollars, and that he