Chapter XXVII: A Shrewd Suggestion

Although Carroll tried hard to persuade him to make an abrupt exit from the town of Oldham immediately after the publication of the sensational snapshots, Hawley persisted in lingering in the _Bulletin_ office.

“I want to see the fun, Fred,” he explained. “The sight of the populace pouring in to buy papers and shower congratulations upon the editor is such a great treat that I can’t tear myself away. Just let me hang around and watch the harvest, and I’ll promise to keep quiet, and not get in your way.”

The proprietor of the _Bulletin_ smiled deprecatingly. “Of course, you’re not in my way, old man,” he said. “Don’t talk rot. It’s only because of the danger to yourself that I’m anxious to get rid of you. Don’t you realize that every minute you remain in this town you run the risk of being nabbed by the police and railroaded to jail? You can be sure Hodgins has already gone to court and sworn out a warrant for your arrest. I’m surprised that he or some of his men haven’t been around here before now, looking for you. But no doubt they’ll be here soon. Take my advice, Frank, and get away before it is too late.”

“Oh, I guess there’s no danger,” the Camera Chap replied coolly. “If they do come here with a warrant, there must be lots of places in this building in which I can hide while they’re searching. But the chances are they won’t come here; they’ll figure that I’ve skipped out of town. It is always----”

He did not complete the remark, for just then Miggsy stepped up and addressed them excitedly.

“Chief Hodgins is comin’ up the stairs,” the boy announced breathlessly. “Beat it quick, Mr. Hawley, if you don’t want to get pinched!”

The Camera Chap jumped hastily to his feet, and glanced about the big editorial room in search of a means of escape.

“Use that stairway over there, Frank,” exclaimed Carroll. “It leads to the pressroom. You’ll find some place to hide in down there. Don’t attempt to leave the building just yet. He may have the place surrounded with his men.”

As Hawley dashed down this private stairway, Carroll rushed toward the door of the editorial room, with the intention of barricading it by dragging a desk in front of it, for there was no lock.

But before he could do this, the portly form of the chief of police was in the doorway.

“Well, sir, what do you wish?” demanded the proprietor of the _Bulletin_, stepping in front of the police official. “You can’t come in here. Nobody but members of the staff are permitted in this room.”

Carroll had no hope of being able to keep Hodgins out, for he believed that the latter was armed with a warrant. He was merely sparring for time in order to give the Camera Chap a chance to reach the pressroom in the basement.

There was a scowl upon the chief’s face. It went very much against his grain to pay this visit to the office of the newspaper which he so cordially hated; but he had been ordered to find the Camera Chap and bring him to the city hall immediately, and, fearful of the mayor’s wrath if he failed, he thought it best to attend to the matter himself.

“I want that feller Hawley,” he announced brusquely. “Where is he?”

Carroll shrugged his shoulders. “Ask me an easier one. Surely you didn’t expect to find him here? I should think you’d give him credit for more sense than that. Hasn’t he already given you proof that he possesses intelligence?”

The scowl on Hodgins’ face deepened. “Aw, cut it out!” he growled. “You know where he is, all right. I ain’t goin’ to do him any harm. If you’ll produce him, I’ll promise you that I won’t place him under arrest.”

Carroll laughed ironically. “Oh, no; of course not,” he sneered. “You wish merely to shake him by the hand, and compliment him upon the excellence of his snapshots in to-day’s _Bulletin_. I understand.”

The face of the chief of police turned the color of a ripe plum.

“If I had my way, I’d march him to jail so quick that it’d make his head swim,” he said furiously. “And I’d do the same with you, too, you fresh young muckraker. But I’m telling you the truth,” he added more mildly. “I ain’t come here now to arrest him. I’m here to invite him to come over to the city hall and see the mayor. His honor wants to have a talk with him--a friendly chat. If you don’t believe that’s on the level, you can get the mayor on the phone and ask him.”

“Oh, I guess I won’t bother,” said Carroll, still incredulous. “Tell the mayor that if he wants to see Mr. Hawley he’ll have to go to New York.”

“Do you mean to say that he’s gone back to New York?” exclaimed Hodgins uneasily.

“If he’s followed my advice, he must be on his way there by this time,” was the guarded reply.

The chief seemed to be stunned by this information. For a full minute he stood there, silent and frowning. And then, greatly to Carroll’s astonishment, he swung on his heel and departed without a word.

Unable to believe that he had got rid of him so easily, and suspecting some trick, Carroll stepped to a window of the editorial room, which commanded a view of the entrance to the Bulletin Building. He saw Hodgins emerge from the building, and walk slowly up the street toward the city hall, without once looking back.

“Looks as if he’s really gone,” the proprietor of the _Bulletin_ muttered. “Queer that he didn’t insist upon searching.”

Then he went downstairs to the pressroom to assure the Camera Chap that for the time being, at least, the danger was passed.

Chief Hodgins had gone away really convinced that Hawley had gone back to New York. It was just what a young man placed in the Camera Chap’s position might be expected to do, he thought; so he was quite ready to believe it.

He started for the city hall with the intention of reporting to the mayor that the bird had already flown, but as he neared the building he chanced to encounter his young friend Gale.

The latter smiled dubiously when he heard of Hawley’s supposed departure. “I wouldn’t be too sure that he’s gone, if I were you, chief,” he remarked. “Although I haven’t any use for Hawley, I’ve got to admit that he has plenty of nerve; it wouldn’t be at all like him to run away at this time. Besides, I’ve got good reason to believe that he’s still in Oldham. I’ve made a discovery.”

“You have?” exclaimed Hodgins eagerly. “What is it?”

“As perhaps you are aware, Hawley came to town on a motor cycle, which he borrowed from the friend with whom he is stopping up in the mountains. I have discovered that the motor cycle is still in the garage on Main Street, where Hawley checked it. While it remains there, isn’t it reasonable to assume that he is still in town?”

“Not necessarily,” Hodgins replied. “He may have forgotten it; or he may have notified his friend to send for it.”

“Very true,” Gale admitted. “Both of those theories are plausible, of course; but still, I think that it is a clew well worth following. If I were you, chief, I’d assign a detective to watch that garage, in the hope that Hawley may come for the wheel.”

Hodgins nodded. “That’s not a half bad idea, young feller,” he graciously declared. “I can see that you’re your father’s son, all right. Cleverness surely does run in the Gale family. I am going to do as you suggest.”

So instead of going to the city hall, Hodgins turned about and went to police headquarters. Picking out two of his best detectives, he assigned them to watch the Invincible Garage, on Main Street, and to shadow whoever came there to claim a certain motor cycle. If it was Hawley himself who came for the wheel, the detectives were instructed to grab him, and notify Chief Hodgins immediately.

Several hours later, the chief had good cause to congratulate himself upon this move, for one of the detectives called up on the telephone, and informed him that they had captured the Camera Chap.

“He came for the motor cycle himself,” the detective explained over the wire. “The chump walked right into our hands, boss. Mike is holding him now, while I’m telephoning.”

“All right; I’ll be right over,” said Hodgins. “Hold him tight until I get there. If you let him get away it will cost both of you your shields.”

That the Camera Chap had been captured was indeed true. After lingering in the _Bulletin_ office for several hours after the visit of the chief of police, he had gone to the garage with the intention of taking his motor cycle and returning to his host’s mountain retreat.

He realized that he ran some danger of being recognized as he walked along Main Street, but the distance from the _Bulletin_ office to the Invincible Garage was so short that he thought he could safely risk it.

The possibility of the place being watched by some of Hodgins’ men, in expectation of his coming, did not enter his mind, and, therefore, when he reached the garage without being challenged, he considered himself out of danger.

It was a great shock to him when, just as he was wheeling the motor cycle out to the street, the two detectives pounced upon him, and told him fiercely that if he preferred a whole skin to a broken one he had better keep very still, and give them no trouble.

Those men were big and brawny, and they were so sore at their captive for the injury he had done Oldham’s police force that they would have been well pleased if he had offered resistance so they would have had justification for using violence. But Hawley disappointed them in this respect. He accepted the situation with a rueful smile. He fully believed that he was booked for jail, and the prospect was not pleasant, but he saw no use in making a fuss about it.

Chief Hodgins arrived at the garage a few minutes later, and took personal charge of the prisoner.

Greatly to the latter’s astonishment, he was not taken to police headquarters. He was marched to the city hall, and conducted by Hodgins into the private office of the mayor.

And what astonished him still more was the fact that the mayor received him with a pleasant smile.