Josie, crouching beside the secret entrance, wondered what she ought to do. The regular thumping, as of machinery, which she had heard once before, now began and continued without interruption. Here was an opportunity to catch the counterfeiters redhanded, but she was one small girl as opposed to a gang of desperate criminals.
"Oh, dear!" she whispered, half aloud, "I wish father had paid some attention to my telegram."
"He did," responded a soft voice beside her.
CHAPTER XXV FATHER AND DAUGHTER
The girl would have screamed had not a hand been swiftly laid across her lips to stifle the sound. She tried to rise, but the shelf of rock beneath which she crouched prevented her. However, she struggled until an arm was pa.s.sed firmly around her waist and a stern voice said warningly:
"Josie! Control yourself."
Instantly her form relaxed and became inert. She breathed hard and her heart still raced, but she was no longer afraid.
"Kiss me, Daddy!" she whispered, and the man obeyed with a chuckle of delight.
There was silence for a time, while she collected herself. Then she asked in a businesslike tone:
"When did you get here?"
"Sunday," said he.
"Good gracious! You must have caught the first train after getting my wire."
"I did. A certain gang of unknown counterfeiters has been puzzling me a good deal lately, and I fancied you had located the rascals."
"I have," said Josie exultantly.
"Where?" he asked.
"The rascals are down below us this very minute, Daddy. They are at our mercy."
"Old Cragg and Jim Bennett?"
"Yes; and perhaps others."
"M-m-m," mumbled O"Gorman, "you"ve a lot to learn yet, Josie. You"re quick; you"re persevering; you"re courageous. But you lack judgment."
"Do you mean that you doubt my evidence?" she asked indignantly.
"I do."
"I"ve the counterfeit bill here in my pocket, which Cragg tried to pa.s.s on the storekeeper," she said.
"Let me see it."
Josie searched and found the bill. O"Gorman flashed a circle of light on it and studied it attentively.
"Here," he said, pa.s.sing it back to her. "Don"t lose it, Josie. It"s worth ten dollars."
"Isn"t it counterfeit?" she asked, trying to swallow a big lump that rose in her throat.
"It is one of the recent issues, good as gold."
She sat silent, rigid with disappointment. Never had she been as miserable as at this moment. She felt like crying, and a sob really did become audible in spite of her effort to suppress it. Again O"Gorman pa.s.sed his arm affectionately around her waist and held her close while she tried to think what it all meant.
"Was that bill your only basis of suspicion, dear?" he presently inquired.
"No, indeed. Do you hear that noise? What are they doing down there?"
"I imagine they are running a printing press," he replied.
"Exactly!" she said triumphantly. "And why do these men operate a printing press in a secret cavern, unless they are printing counterfeit money?"
"Ah, there you have allowed your imagination to jump," returned her father. "Haven"t I warned you against the danger of imagination? It leads to theory, and theory leads--nine times in ten--to failure."
"Circ.u.mstantial evidence is often valuable," declared Josie.
"It often convicts," he admitted, "but I am never sure of its justice.
Whenever facts are obtainable, I prefer facts."
"Can you explain," she said somewhat coldly, for she felt she was suffering a professional rebuke, "what those men below us are printing, if not counterfeit money?"
"I can," said he.
"And you have been down there, investigating?"
"Not yet," he answered coolly.
"Then _you_ must be theorizing, Daddy."
"Not at all. If you know you have two marbles in one pocket and two more in another pocket, you may be positive there are four altogether, whether you bother to count them individually or not."
She pondered this, trying to understand what he meant.
"You don"t know old Cragg as well as I do," she a.s.serted.
"Let us argue that point," he said quickly. "What do you know about him?"
"I know him to be an eccentric old man, educated and shrewd, with a cruel and murderous temper; I know that he has secluded himself in this half-forgotten town for many years, engaged in some secret occupation which he fears to have discovered. I am sure that he is capable of any crime and therefore--even if that bill is good--I am none the less positive that counterfeiting is his business. No other supposition fits the facts in the case."
"Is that all you know about old Cragg?" asked O"Gorman.
"Isn"t it enough to warrant his arrest?" she retorted.
"Not quite. You"ve forgotten to mention one thing among his characteristics, Josie."
"What is that?"