and a high voice; he used only the bottom notes for conversational
purposes save when in unwary moments Nature would assert herself in a
hoarse falsetto. He patronized Mr. Porter. He said that the Judge had left
town the week before, and that he would probably be back in about ten
days. He would send him no messages whatever, from anybody: those were
Judge Black's orders.

The young man seemed willing to go on talking at great length, and he
doubtless would have done so had not Porter suddenly left the room. The
Vice-President had thought of a possible clew. He walked rapidly to the
railroad ticket office and spoke to the agent.

"Did Judge Black leave town a few days ago?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," answered the agent. "I don't remember just what day, but he
went up on twenty-two."

"Oh, he went east then. Do you remember where?"

"His ticket read to Chicago."

Porter walked away thoroughly disappointed. The chance had looked like a
good one and there seemed to be no other. But he must in some way find the
Judge; he could not wait for him. The first thing he did was to call up
McNally by telephone and repeat to him what the agent had said. He told
McNally to find out at what hotel the Judge had stayed, if at any, and to
look for anything which might prove a clew to his whereabouts. "It's a
wild-goose chase, I know," he concluded; "but then you may manage to turn
up something." He knew that McNally would do everything that could be done
in Chicago toward finding the missing Judge, so he went to work along