A League of Three: Boy's Detective Stratagems — page 76: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

¥ r | 7 F / ; r | i 4 t ' ah i. ee « _ : a cil 4 v Eee aa ee amos! ~ — Pes TTT oO ce wir, ig: | ew) fg ee | "y a ee ae ee rz ’ 7 is, ‘ ¥ 74 A LEAGUE OF THREE. | The Italians appeared to be relieved when they discov. ered the cause of their detention, and one of them said: “You are mistaken, boy.” “No, I am not mistaken.” “Pay him,” said one of the Italians. “ Yes, pay him, even if it is a mistake.” The man spoke in Italian. Our hero feared he might lose the excuse and dealt the manablow. Immediately there followed a regular scrimmage, and the boy and the three men were clinched when suddenly three officers ran into the office. “Here, here, what is going on here?” came the query, as the two officers seized all four of the combatants. The Italians were wild and furious, not knowing that they had really been tricked. They protested and fumed and ap- pealed to the clerks, and the latter also, not knowing what had occurred, protested and declared that the Italians were gentlemen and had been assailed by the ruffianly were going on a detective entered the room. Then the banker came from his office and said: _ “Those men were fighting in our office. I prefer a charge of disorderly conduct against them.” “Bring them all along,” said the detective. Madie saw that he was going to be locked uv and he made a vigorous protest. He was in dead earnest too, as a recollection of Patsy’s warning ran through his mind: “If we betray them we may be arrested as pals.” The officers paid no attention to any of the protests and the three Italians and our hero were hustled off, not to the station-house but to police headquarters, and on the way the Italians uttered dire and bitter threats against Madie. Indeed they had entirely lost their heads, and they had good reason to do so: time was important to them under the circumstances. <_ -—