"I know it happens anyhow," said Ivan, sticking to his point.

"Ivan, you forget that I am in a position to know," said the
Professor. "My researches have led me, thanks to the presentations of
your father and many others, into secret records never before opened to
outsiders of any race. I regret the stand you take with me. I am
unused to contradiction."

"Pardon me," said Ivan wearily. He looked at Warren. In the minds of
both boys there was a feeling that the mystery was solved. There was
no longer any need to discuss it. A little search around the house
would show if the children were there; after that it meant that Evelyn
was right.

"Well, Ivan's right," said Warren doggedly. "It doesn't matter what
you have found in your researches, father; you have had those dry old
records to prove everything to you. I have heard the people tell
stories that would make your hair curl. They not only steal children,
but sometimes they cripple them, just as they did hundreds of years ago
in England. Why do you suppose boys like Ivan here are watched every
second? Sometimes they take them for revenge, but when they are gone,
they are gone. You can't go out with a wad of bills and stick it
under the park fence, and go back and find your child on the front
stoop like you can at home."