'clock, and never delayed.
Accordingly, the game was broken up.

"Come along, Jack," said Frank, linking an arm in that of his pal;
"your father's not at home, and we won't let you dine in solitary
splendor. You are coming to dinner with us."

CHAPTER VIII

A CONSULTATION

"This man Higginbotham is not the chief figure in the liquor smuggling
ring," stated Captain Folsom emphatically.

Captain Folsom sat in the Temple library, with the boys grouped about
him. The time was nearing ten o'clock. From the moment of his arrival,
shortly after the hour of nine, he had been in conference with the
boys, and they had explained to him in detail all that they had
discovered or surmised about their neighbors of the old Brownell
place.

An army officer with a distinguished record, who had lost his left arm
in the Argonne, Captain Folsom upon recovery had been given a
responsible post in the prohibition enforcement forces. His was a
roving commission. He was not attached permanently to the New York
office, but when violations of the law at the metropolis became so
flagrant as to demand especial attention, he had been sent on from
Washington to assume command of a special squad of agents. Lieutenant
Summers, U. S. N., in command of the submarine division known as the
"Dry Fleet," was operating in conjunction with him, he had told the
boys.

Still a young man in his early thirties, he had a strong face, an
athletic frame and a true grey eye, and had made a good impression on
the boys.

"No," he repeated emphatically, "this man Higginbotham is not at the
bottom of all this devilment. There is somebody behind it all who is
keeping utterly in the dark, somebody who is manipulating all the
various bands of smugglers around this part of the world. I believe
that when we unearth him we shall receive the surprise of our lives,
for undoubtedly, from certain evidences that have come to my attention
so far, he will prove to be a man of prominence and importance in the
business world."

"But why should such a man engage in liquor smuggling?" asked Jack,
astonished.

Captain Folsom smiled.

"My dear boy," he said, "wherever 'big money,' so to speak, is
involved, you will find men doing things you would never have
suspected they were capable of. And certainly, 'big money' is involved
in bootlegging, as liquor smuggling is termed.

"Evidently, you boys have not been interested in watching developments
in this situation, si