“Perhaps I am,” the latter confessed.  “Still, you must remember that the scientific world on those few occasions when I do appear in public, expects much of me.  My sense of proportion may perhaps be disarranged by this knowledge.  All that I can realise at the present moment, is this.  You seem to have frightened away the one man in the world who is indispensable to me.”

Quest smoked in silence for a moment.

“Any mail for me, Professor?” he asked, abruptly.

The Professor opened a drawer and handed him a telegram.

“Only this!”

Quest opened it and read it through.  It was from the Sheriff of a small town in Connecticut:—­

    “The men you enquired for are both here.  They have sold an
    automobile and seem to be spending the proceeds.  Shall I
    arrest?”

Quest studied the message for a moment.

“Say, this is rather interesting, Professor,” he remarked.

“Really?” the latter replied tartly.  “You must forgive me if I cannot follow the complications of your—­pardon me for saying Munchausen-like affairs.  How does the arrest of these two men help you?”

“Don’t you see?” Quest explained.  “These are the two thugs who set upon me up at the section house.  They killed the signalman, who could have been my alibi, and swiped my car, in which, as it cannot be found, French supposes that I returned to New York.  With their arrest the case against me collapses.  I tell you frankly, Professor,” Quest continued, frowning, “I hate to leave the city without having found that girl; but I am not sure that the quickest way to set things right would not be to go down, arrest these men and bring them back here, clear myself, and then go tooth and nail for Craig.”

“I agree with you most heartily,” the Professor declared.  “I recommend any course which will ensure the return of my man Craig.”

“I cannot promise you that you will ever have Craig here again,” Quest observed grimly.  “I rather fancy Sing-Sing will be his next home.”

“Don’t be foolish, Mr. Quest,” the Professor advised.  “Don’t let me lose confidence in you.  Craig would not hurt a fly, and as to abducting your assistant—­if my sense of humour were developed upon normal lines—­well, I should laugh!  What you have really done, you, and that young lady assistant of yours, is to terrify the poor fellow into such a state of nerves that he scarcely knows what he is doing.  As a matter of fact, how do you know that that young woman has been abducted at all?  Such things are most unlikely, especially in this part of the city.”

“What reason do you suggest, then, for her disappearance?” Quest enquired.

“At my age,” the Professor replied, drily, “I naturally know nothing of these things.  But she is a young woman of considerable personal attractions—­I should think it not unlikely that she is engaged in some amorous adventure.”