d the detectives up a path to the house and when they were seated
in the kitchen, his big, fat wife, Dinah, bustled around and soon had a
savory breakfast set before them.

The detectives praised her cooking and paid the old servants so well
for their attention that the faithful pair voted them as fine
gentlemen.

Soon afterward the detectives started for Swamp Angel.

"The action of Ronald Mason in coming here so oddly with his uncle's
valet strikes me very strangely," remarked Old King Brady, as they
trudged along the road toward the station. "In fact, it is a most
singular proceeding. He evidently poses before his rich uncle as a
paragon of virtue. Behind the old man's back he is evidently a high
roller."

"Then he must be a deceitful man," said Harry.

"Of course, for he's deceiving his trusting uncle."

"You are suspicious of him, ain't you?"

"Well, yes. It takes plenty money for a young man to lead a riotous
life. If Mason draws a big salary in his uncle's office, where he is
employed as a clerk, he may be able to afford it. If he is poorly paid,
he may be at the bottom of the mail robberies we were called upon to
investigate. See the point?"

Harry nodded and smiled; then he thought for a moment.

"You're pretty keen," he remarked. "It's a fair presumption, though."

"I think we had better keep an eye on that frisky young gentleman when
we return to New York," continued the old detective, wisely. "It may
lead to a solution of the problem we are so anxious to solve for the
broker."

"Are you going back to Dalton's to see him?"

"Yes, this afternoon. I merely wish to size him up."

"How long do you intend to remain here?"

"I'd like to unravel the great swamp mystery before we go."

"Perhaps we may in a few days."

"Well, we'll give the matter a fair trial, anyhow."

Upon reaching Swamp Angel, they soon located the little hotel and there
turned into bed for a few hours' sleep.

It was late in the afternoon when they returned to Dalton's.

Here they met the old negro again and he said:

"Yo's come back too late, gemmen."

"How so?" asked Old King Brady, in puzzled tones.

"Massa Mason an' Sim done gone an hour ago."

"Where to?"

"York."

The detectives were keenly disappointed.

However, they did not complain, and went away to search the swamp again
for some trace of the missing body.

No success crowned their efforts.

In fact, after a useless search, covering a period of thre