men was the man who left the valise and the same one I saw in the
office the other day.'"

"What reply did he make."

"He appeared to be doubtful, and simply said, 'Is that so?'"

"Very well, Miss Patton," said the detective at length, "we will look
fully into this matter; but in the meantime, I particularly desire that
you will say nothing to any one about what you have told me to-day. It
is very necessary that a strict silence should be preserved upon this
point."

The young lady cheerfully promised compliance with this request, and in
a few moments the detective, after thanking her for her kindness in
seeing him, arose and took his departure.

As he strolled back to the hotel, he revolved the information he had
received carefully in his mind. He had also obtained from Miss Patton a
description of the two men, and found that they agreed very nearly with
what he had learned from Mr. Pearson. He went to his room immediately,
and prepared a report of all that had transpired during the morning,
carefully detailing all that he had heard relating to Mr. Pearson's
alleged intimacy with one of the robbers, and of the successful attempt
he made to extricate himself from the vault, by means of the ten-cent
piece. After concluding his relations, he requested the assistance of
another operative, in order that they might scour the country round
about, in the hope of finding some clues of the escaping robbers.

On the next morning, operative Howard Jackson, a young, active and