"Then down there we'll go!" decided the young pitcher. "I'm going to have an interview with Hogan. If I'd only known he was the one responsible for the accusation against me I'd have held on to him while he was talking to you. But I didn't realize it until afterward, and then the officer had put him outside. He was lost in the crowd. But suppose he isn't at Kelly's?"
"Oh, someone there can tell us where to find him. But it's a rough place, Joe."
"I suppose so. You don't mind going there; do you?"
"Well, no, not exactly. True, a lot of the men I used to trail in with may be there, but, no matter. They can't do any more than gibe me."
"We could take a detective along," suggested Joe.
"No, I think we can do better by ourselves. I don't mind. You see after I--after I went down and out--I used to stop around at all the baseball towns, and in that way I got to know most of these lodging-house places. This one in Washburg is about as rough as any."
"Oh, I just met him on the road. He used to be a good railroad man, but he went down, and now he's no good. He's a boastful sort, and that's how he came to tell me about the valise. But I never thought you'd be mixed up in it."
"Of course I can't be dead certain this is the same valise that was robbed," said Joe; "but it's worth taking a chance on. I do hope we can find him."
But they were doomed to disappointment. When they reached Kelly's lodging-house Hogan had gone, and the best they could learn, in the sullen replies given by the habitués, was that the former railroad man had taken to the road again, and might be almost anywhere.
"Too bad!" exclaimed Pop sympathetically, as he and Joe came out.
"Yes, it is," assented the young pitcher, "for I did want Reggie Varley to know who really robbed his valise." Perhaps Joe also wanted a certain other person to know. But he did not mention this, so of course I cannot be sure. "Better luck next time!" exclaimed the young pitcher as cheerfully as he could.
They endeavored to trace whither Hogan had gone, but without success. The best they could ascertain was that he had "hopped a freight," for some point west.
Joe did not allow the disappointment to interfere with his baseball work. In the following games with Washburg he fitted well into the tight places, and succeeded, several times, when the score was close, in being instrumental in pulling the Pittston team out a winner.