sam looked at his chum a moment as if wondering whether he had heard aright. tom continued to stare at the crumpled and torn telegram.
“what’s the matter with you, tom?” his chum asked. “what are you talking about clues for? been reading some detective stories?”
“no, but this is a clue all right. where did you get it?”
“found it right here on the ground. i picked it up—” he paused to look at the open window of captain hawkesbury’s room. “why, say!” sam exclaimed, “it must have come from there!”
“i think so,” tom agreed.
“wind probably blew it out,” went on sam. “we can toss it back i suppose, though evidently it was intended to be thrown away.”
“no, we won’t toss it back,” tom said, quietly.
“what are you going to do with it?”
“keep it. just as i said, i think it’s a valuable clue to the puzzle i’m working on,” and tom put the torn paper in his pocket.
[pg 175]
“say, you’ve got me going!” sam said. “elucidate a bit for a fellow.”
“i will,” promised tom, “but not here. come along where we can have a quiet talk. this may be important.”
tom put his chum in possession of all the facts in the case, from the time of his father’s death and the property tangle, to the return of the draft of the trust deed by flack, the janitor.
“and you think doolittle and hawkesbury kept for themselves the money they received from the railroad?” asked sam.
“that’s what i believe, though i don’t know how i’m going to prove it. however, this telegram may help some.”
“how do you think that figures in it?” asked sam.
“well, this is only a theory, of course,” tom replied, “but it seems reasonable. something cropped up after the captain threw away the deed i showed him, that made him want to get it back again. we know how that plan failed.
“then, evidently, he told aaron doolittle about the matter, and doolittle, too, had reason to want to see that draft of the deed in their own possession. you see he states in his telegram that it is too bad i know about the existence of the paper and he is sorry about its loss. there must be something important back of it all when doolittle[pg 176] wants to meet the captain in garrison, across the river.”
“i’m beginning to think you’re on the right track, tom,” said sam.
“of course, i don’t know when this telegram was received,” tom went on, “and it may be that the captain is, even now, in garrison, talking with doolittle. if he is i wish i could be there too.”
“captain hawkesbury isn’t in garrison now,” sam told his chum, “for i saw him, a little while ago, going over to the com’s quarters.”
“well, he may already have had his talk,” tom went on. “if we only knew the date the message was delivered i would know a little better where i was at.”
“that ought to be easy,” sam said.
“what ought?”
“finding out when this message came. we can interview the boy at the office who delivered it.”
“that’s so. all’s fair in a war of this kind, when i’m trying to establish my mother’s rights,” decided tom. “we’ll see what we can find out.”
by judicious inquiries of the delivery lad, they learned that the telegram had come in only a few hours before sam found the torn scrap.
“that settles it then,” tom said; “he hasn’t kept the garrison appointment yet, and i’ve got a chance.”
[pg 177]
“what are you going to do?” his chum asked, eagerly.
“i’m going to try and be in garrison, at the hotel, when captain hawkesbury and aaron doolittle have their conference,” was the reply. “i’m going to try to hear what they say. it isn’t just my usual style of doing things, but it can’t be helped.”
“no,” agreed sam, “it’s fair enough to get evidence that way against men of that character. the only thing is, though, can you make it work?”
“i can try,” tom said.
“it’s going to take some pretty good planning,” sam went on. “you’ll have to leave here soon after the captain does, and follow him. it’s going to be risky.”
“anything is that’s worth while.”
“i suppose so. well, i’ll help you all i can, of course.”
“thanks, old man. i was hoping you would offer. and i’d like to have you go to garrison with me in case we get a chance.”
“i’ll do that, too. now let’s go all over the ground, and see if we’ve left our flank unguarded anywhere. we’ve got to make this a sort of ambushed attack at first, until we see how strong the enemy really is. so we’ll do a little mental scouting in advance.”
“good!” cried tom. “anybody would think,[pg 178] if they didn’t know you, that you knew a little about military matters.”
“wouldn’t they!” laughed sam.
together they went over the matter point by point, and bit by bit. there was much dependent on chance, of course, but that could not be helped. the success of the whole plan lay in finding out when captain hawkesbury went to garrison to keep the appointment with aaron doolittle. then would come the matter of following him.
“it will be soon, i’m thinking,” tom said. “he wouldn’t wait long on such an important matter as that. he may go over this afternoon.”
“it will be easy for us if he does,” sam said. “we can get leave of absence more easily now than almost any other time.”
“yes,” agreed tom, who was thinking deeply.
it was not so difficult as it might seem at first glance, to find out when captain hawkesbury left the academy. the goings and comings of the military men, as well as those of the cadets, was governed more or less by rules and regulations. tom thought he could find out within a few minutes after the captain had left.
to do this he had to get the information from one of the servants employed in the building where the captain had his quarters. but tom was not going to stop at a little thing like that at[pg 179] this stage of the proceedings. accordingly he made his plan.
“we’d better ask for permission now, to be absent this afternoon in case we want to,” suggested sam. “it’s well to provide for the emergency in advance.”
“you’re right,” tom agreed.
there was no trouble on this score. as members of the third class they were entitled to more privileges than came to the poor “plebes.”
“now about getting over the river,” went on sam, when that much had been done. “how are you going to manage that?”
“we can easily hire a motor boat,” tom declared, “and get one to bring us back.”
“another thing—we don’t know at what hotel doolittle will stop.”
“there are only two where he would be likely to stop,” tom said, “and we can try both of those.”
“well, that much is settled. but it isn’t going to be so easy to get in a position to hear what they’ll talk about.”
“i realize that,” tom said, “and, as we can’t plan that ahead, we’ll just have to trust to luck. somehow or other i think it’s going to be on my side. things are coming my way. here is the copy of the deed restored to me, and then you[pg 180] hand me the telegram that gives me the very clue i want. yes, i think i’m playing in luck.”
“i hope it continues,” remarked sam.
tom gave up his plan of seeing young blasdell, at least for the present. now all depended on the move captain hawkesbury would make.
events happened more quickly than tom had expected, though he was just as glad they did. nervous waiting is about the most tiresome thing there is.
shortly after dinner, when the limited freedom tom and sam had secured went into effect, tom received word that captain hawkesbury had left his quarters, in civilian’s dress.
“that means he’s going!” cried tom. “are you with me, sam?”
“i sure am! we’ll go to garrison right away.”
they managed to follow captain hawkesbury without being observed. he took a motor boat, evidently one he had arranged for in advance, as it carried no other passengers. when it was part way across the river tom and sam engaged another, and after a short run they found themselves in the city where tom and clarence had had their affair two years before.
“and now to try the hotels,” suggested sam, as he and his chum started up the street.
“right you are.”
[pg 181]
“maybe he didn’t go to any hotel. he may have some friend to visit,” continued sam, struck by a sudden idea.
“i don’t think that, sam. but we have got to take our chances. come ahead. you know what i said about hotels here.” and thus speaking our hero led the way.
the hardest part of their task lay before them. what would be the outcome?
