The superintendent was astounded at the audacity of a thief who, after perpetrating such a successful robbery, and with the ruby then in his possession, could publish his crime through the medium of a moving picture.
"It merely goes to prove," said the superintendent, "what a clever and daring scoundrel this fellow Grattan is. Too bad he escaped at the time the ruby was so cleverly recovered. More than likely, Motor Matt, he'll make trouble for you."
"I guess he'll be too busy looking out for himself," laughed Matt, "to pay any attention to me."
"Don't bother your head about the speeder," the superintendent went on. "I'm glad your report reached me ahead of the one from the section gang. I'll know how to handle the matter, now, when I hear from the section boss. Good-by, my lads, and good luck to you."
"It didn't take long to fix that up," said McGlory, when he and Matt were once more on their way to the hotel.
"I knew it wouldn't," returned Matt, "just as soon as we could get to some one who would be willing to take our word for what happened."
"What the super said about Grattan trying to get back at you, Matt, for what you did in the old sugar camp, near Purling, sounded to me like it had a lot of good horse sense mixed up in it."
"What I told the super had a little horse sense in it, too, didn't it, Joe?"
"You mean about Grattan having so much to do to keep out of the clutches of the law that he won't find any time to hit up your trail?"
"I don't know about that. Grattan is a tinhorn who is in a class all by himself. He seems to have all kinds of nerve, and to be willing to take all sorts of chances. That moving-picture deal gives us a pretty good line on him."
When the boys got to the hotel, McGlory stumbled into a chair on the veranda.
"Gee, man, but I'm tired!" he exclaimed. "A cowboy is built for riding, and not for this footwork. It sure gets me going. Sit down here for a while, Matt, and let's palaver about New York, and what the chances are for our getting there."
"They're pretty slim, I guess," answered Matt, dropping into a seat at his chum's side, "if we're to wait until Grattan is captured. Tsan Ti says, in his letter, that he won't come on until Grattan is behind the bars, or safely off his trail."