his case was strong enough without it; and he urged the reporter
to come back to his rooms and sum up the facts with him again.

"Sorry, Mr. Granice, but I'm due at the office now. Besides,
it'd be no use till I get some fresh stuff to work on. Suppose I
call you up tomorrow or next day?"

He plunged into a trolley and left Granice gazing desolately
after him.

Two days later he reappeared at the apartment, a shade less
jaunty in demeanor.

"Well, Mr. Granice, the stars in their courses are against you,
as the bard says. Can't get a trace of Flood, or of Leffler
either. And you say you bought the motor through Flood, and sold
it through him, too?"

"Yes," said Granice wearily.

"Who bought it, do you know?"

Granice wrinkled his brows. "Why, Flood--yes, Flood himself. I
sold it back to him three months later."

"Flood? The devil! And I've ransacked the town for Flood. That
kind of business disappears as if the earth had swallowed it."

Granice, discouraged, kept silence.