“But is he—is he Gentleman Jim?” muttered Roy, staring at the man’s face. “Have we got the right man?”
“The right man?” echoed Piper. “He must be the right one, or Fred Sage never would have tried to help him get away. Isn’t he the man you saw and talked with in the woods beyond Culver’s Bridge?”
“Gee!” gasped Sleuth in dismay. “That’s queer!”
“Not—not the man?” muttered Piper, still staring at the unconscious captive. “Why, he must be the man—he must be! He can’t be anybody else.”
“He’s not the one I talked with,” reiterated Hooker. “I never saw him before. That man was larger, taller, better looking.”
“Wait a minute,” said Sleuth, thrusting his hand into his pocket and bringing out a clipping from a newspaper. “Here’s the description of James Wilson. About twenty-six years of age, five feet ten inches in height, weight one hundred and sixty pounds, hair slightly curly, eyes blue, teeth white and even.”
“Doesn’t come within a thousand miles of fitting this fellow,” asserted Hooker. “This man is thirty-five, if he’s a minute. He doesn’t stand more than five feet seven or eight, and he won’t weigh a pound over one hundred and forty-five. His hair is coarse, black and bristly. Can’t see the color of his eyes, but look at those teeth! You’d never call them white and even, would you?”
“I should say not,” acknowledged Piper, in a tone of profound regret. “This isn’t Gentleman Jim, but it must be one of his pals. Do you realize what that means, Roy?”
“It means that we’ve caught the wrong bird and won’t get our fingers on that reward money,” sighed the other boy regretfully.
“It means,” said Sleuth grimly, “that Fred Sage was concerned in assisting to escape a member of that gang, to whom he is in no way related. It means that he’s an accomplice. There would be an excuse for his aiding his brother, but not for rendering assistance to any other member of the gang. It looks pretty bad for Fred.”
“I can’t believe it,” muttered Roy—“I can’t believe he’d make himself the accomplice of criminals.”
“I don’t want to believe it, but what else are we to believe?”
“Look out, Pipe, this fellow is coming round.”
The man’s breast heaved, and a faint groan issued from his lips, following which his eyelids fluttered a bit and then lifted slowly. He lay there staring dumbly at the two boys, each of whom menaced him with a loaded pistol. For the time being he did not seem to realize what had happened.