hiladelphy."

"He says the way he figgered it out at first, Jip Collins ought'er been
over there; but he'd found out his mistake soon enough if you fellers
hadn't hurried him off."

"He didn't go for most a day after he acted 'bout crazy to get away."

"That's one of his excuses, of course; I'm jest givin' you the fairy
story he flashed up to me. He says he wasn't any sooner in the train
than he began to work the plan over in his mind, same's all the
detectives do, an' it didn't take him a great while to figger how it
was. At the jump he thought it was mighty queer that Bill Dean should go
'round raisin' money to send him away, an' after he was in the cars he
tumbled to himself, don't you see? To hear him tell it you'd believe all
he had to do was to set down an' think over things to find out jest what
was what."

"It's a big pity he couldn't think who stole his money," Seth
interrupted. "'Cordin' to his story he's been after the thief ever
since."

"He says he would have caught him if this case of Jip's hadn't turned
up, an' seein's it was so much bigger he dropped everything else. Well,
after he made up his mind that the fellers what chipped in the money was
tryin' to run him out of town, the train started, so of course he had to
keep on; but he'd fixed it with himself that he was bound to come
straight back soon's he could. I reckon he swelled himself 'round the
depot over in Philadelphy, blew in the sixteen cents he had, an' give
some of the fellers a terrible stiff 'bout bein' a detective, till he
borrowed money of 'em to come back. The way he tells it is that jest as
soon as he got there people knew who he was, an' give him a great
reception. He makes out that there was a slat of folks hangin' round the
station tryin' to get a chance to see him; but that's all in your eye,
of course."

"Sam Barney must be a fool if he thinks anybody is goin' to believe such
yarns."

"He must think it, else he wouldn't tell 'em. Now, 'cordin' to his
story, some of them fellers was jest loaded with the stuff, and they put
up the price of a railroad ticket back. I don't know what he did with
himself while he was in the town, 'cause you can't make out anything by
what he says."

"Why didn't he come back on the next train if everybody was ready to
lend him money?"

"He says he jest actually couldn't get away from the crowd that wanted
to see him an' talk to him, so he stayed a spell to give 'em a good time
by showin' himse