* * * * * Something over a month later, Mr. Early burst in on Mr. and Mrs.
Percival as they dawdled over the breakfast-table.
"It's no time to be paying calls, I know," he apologized, "but I've had
such a sensation this morning that I had to come over and share it.
Yes, there are times when a man wishes that he had a wife to talk to!"
"What is it, Early?" Dick asked indifferently.
Mr. Early was waving a bit of paper about in a way quite hysterical.
"Do you see that?" he cried exultantly. "I never expected to see it
again, but I declare it is worth its price. I was going over my bank
accounts the first thing this morning and I found it."
"How do you expect us to know what it is when you're fanning it about
that way?" Dick demanded.
"It's a check, man, a check for five thousand that I gave Ram Juna the
very day of his unceremonious departure." Lena turned scarlet, and Mr.
Early noticed it with fresh glee. "A check I gave Ram Juna," he
repeated. "It's been cashed, with four indorsements, in New Orleans. Now
how did he manage that, tell me. The Swami is one of the great geniuses
of the age. Of course I wanted to see the rascals punished, and it makes
me hot to think how they used my house and all that, but, by Jove! I'm
glad they haven't Ram Juna. From New Orleans, a seaport, mind you! I am
willing to make a good-sized bet that he's well on his way to his
favorite Himalayas by this time, ready to meditate on the syllable 'Om'
for the rest of his life. Oh, it's too good! How he must laugh in his
sleeve at the rest of the world! But how did he get that check cashed?"
"Well, if I were in your place, I should have it traced back," said
Dick, the practical.
"Of course I shall," exclaimed Mr. Early. "Of course I shall. I shall
put it in the hands of the police at once, for I'm sure of one thing, if
it helps to root out any sinners, Swami Ram Juna won't be among them.
He's gone for good, take my word for it; and as for the other rascals, I
hope with all my heart they may suffer." He nodded jubilantly at Mrs.
Percival, and she flushed again.
"It's a very good joke, certainly," said Dick, "but rather an expensive
one for you, I should say, Early."
"Oh, I shall get five thousand dollars' worth of satisfaction out of
it," Mr. Early went on enthusiastically. "And I'm proud of the Swami,
proud of him. And the splendid simplicity of him! I was talking
yesterday with the detective that ferreted him out. The plunder they
found in my little room was perfectly primitive. He had practically no
tools to make the cleverest counterfeits in years. A deft hand and a
wonderful thumb had the Swami."