The Argosy, Vol. XXV, No. 1 — page 178: what you’re looking at

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

178 THE BUNKEL MYSTERY. must have obtained his revolvers from him. ‘The vagabond certainly had some relations with him. The stranger had said ‘‘ None of that !’’ to Tom when the latter fired the pistol for the first time. He would not have done that if they had not been associated in some manner. This reasoning -from the meager facts in his possession strengthened him in his belief that the stranger and Tom knew all about the robbery. - He told his story to Rynon. ‘The officer had his theoty, and was not willing to believe anything that conflicted with it. It was only when Mr. Singerlay insisted that he would consent to visit the island. Rynon was sure that the boys had robbed the banks and taken a train to some distant point early in the morning. The magnate told them to:take the Dragon for their visit to the island. The sail boat was provided with a small tender, which Dolph used when he wanted to land where the water was shoal near the shore. Andy was in favor of taking this tender with them, and insisted upon doing so. The magnate had to interfere again in his favor before the policeman would yield the point. Rynon was far from enthusiastic in the mission he had consented to under- take, and he growled all the way to the island. They looked it over in half an hour, and Andy was forced to admit that he found nothing to justify his confident assertions that Tom and his associate were concealed there. At the same time he asked Rynon a few hard questions, which the officer could not answer. ‘Tom had rafted a lot of boards from the town to Bunkel, having probably stolen them. Where were those boards? ‘Not a splinter of one of them could be found. What had become of them? ‘Tom could not have conveyed them back to Montoban. Rynon could not answer any of these questions; he declared that it was of no consequence what had become of the boards. He would not take the trouble to reply to Andy’s suggestions. He had been an officer for twenty years, and he was not going to be led by the nose by a boy. He knew what he was about and he did not want any advice. “You said that Tom and the man went on in the boat at the time you arrested Bob Rottle and the others, Mr. Rynon?’? said Andy, who had another point to make with the officer before they left the island. ‘‘ That is what I said ; but it has nothing at all to do with the robbery of the banks,’’ replied Rynon, very crustily, if not angrily. ss ‘The man picked up the four boys who were hanging to the wreck of the boat, I think you said,’’ continued Andy, as pleasantly as he could speak, ‘‘ Where did ‘he land them, if you please ?”’ ‘I don’t know ; I was not on the island at the time ; but I found the three boys I arrested over on the east side of the island. They had been to the landing rock im search of Tom and the man. ‘They could not find them or see anything of the boat.’’ ‘ If the boat had left the island, it must have crossed the channel,’’ added Andy. ‘‘ I suppose so, for the boys would have seen it if it had crossed the strait,’’ growled the officer. Eomichbooks (S@)