"Yes," was the reply, "except for Joe Ventner. He's a detective sent
on from New York by this Burlingame person, the lawyer to whom I
referred a short time ago."

"What part of the world is he searching?" asked Will.

"He seems to think that the boys ran away because of some childish
prank put on by them the night before. They broke some windows in a
couple of shanties down by the tracks, or, at least, the other boys
say they did, and Joe thinks they ran away because of that. He
accounts in that way for them not calling after their pay envelopes."

"So he thinks they've gone out of the country, does he."

"Yes," was the reply. "He comes back here every few days to ask if I
have heard anything regarding the youngsters, and then goes away
again. If you leave it to me, I don't think the fellow is working
very hard in the case. There's a half a dozen saloons in a little
dump of a place about ten miles away, and my idea is that he puts in a
good deal of his time there."

"You don't seem to take to this detective?" asked George.

"Oh, I don't know, as he's so much worse than the average private
detective," replied the caretaker. "He's out for his day's wages, and
the easier he can get them, the better it suits him."

"So you don't know who wants these boys, or what they're wanted for?"
asked Will. "Lawyer Burlingame never took you into his confidence so