t the make an' the number an' the last trip mileage. Meet me here at
twelve o'clock, say. Both of you."

"Suits me," said Cole. "But wise me up. What's the idea in the
mileage?"

"Just this. James was outa town last night probably. We couldn't find
him anywhere. My notion is that he's taken Esther somewhere into the
mountains. If we can get the mileage of the last trip, all we have to
do is to divide it by two to know how far away Esther is. Then we'll
draw a circle round Denver at that distance an'--"

Cole slapped his thigh with his hat. "Bully! You're sure the
white-haired lad in this deteckative game."

"Maybe he didn't set the speedometer for the trip," suggested Rose.

"Possible. Then again more likely he did. James is a methodical chap.
Another thing, while you're at the private hotel where he lives, Cole.
Find out if you can where James goes when he fishes or drives into the
mountains. Perhaps he's got a cottage of his own or some favorite
spot."

"I'm on my way, old-timer!" Cole announced with enthusiasm.

At luncheon the committee reported progress. Cole had seen James
Cunningham's car. It was a sedan. He had had it out of the garage all
afternoon and evening and had brought it back just before midnight.
The trip record on the speedometer registered ninety-two miles.

From his pocket Kirby drew an automobile map and a pencil. He notched
on the pencil a mark to represent forty-six miles from the point, based
on the scale of miles shown at the foot of the map. With the pencil as
a radius he drew a semicircle from Denver as the center. The curved
line passed through Loveland, Long's Peak, and across the Snow Range to
Tabernash. It included Georgetown, Gray's Peak, Mount Evans, and
Cassell's. From there it swept on to Palmer Lake.

"I'm not includin' the plains country to the east," Kirby explained.
"You'll have enough territory to cover as it is, Cole. By the way, did
you find anything about where James goes into the hills?"

"No."

"Well, we'll make some more inquiries. Perhaps the best thing for you
to do would be to go out to the small towns around Denver an' find out
if any of the garage people noticed a car of that description passin'
through. That would help a lot. It would give us a line on whether he
went up Bear Canon, Platte Canon, into Northern Colorado, or south
toward the Palmer Lake country."

"You've allowed forty-six miles by an air line," Rose pointed out.