The other hesitated a moment, then he wisely abandoned his ruse. “Well, I admit it,” he replied, smiling feebly. “I am a newspaper man and I must learn all I can for the ---- about Strong & Co.’s supply of bullion. I saw you carry two wagonloads of gold from their office to the Assay Office this morning and I followed you here. Now, I hope you won’t send me away quite as ignorant as I came.” The big man allowed his resentment to disappear. He even grinned a little as he said, “That’s right; don’t lie when it won’t do any good. You’ve discovered quite enough already, and I haven’t a word to tell you.” “At least you will give me your name?” “Oh, you’re quite welcome to that. My name is John Holmes. Now you must excuse me. Good morning.” But the failure of the interview did not prevent the ---- from having a big story about the great gold mystery next morning. It was a highly embellished yarn told with all the emphasis of double leads and a “scare head.” “The Gold Bugs Discovered” was the black line at the head of the article on the first page, and a two-column picture of “the mysterious wagon loaded with five tons of gold” was a prominent feature of the story. The plain wooden box which the men were struggling to put into the rear of the wagon was reproduced as graphically as possible. There was a picture also of the modest dwelling and stable entrance in East Seventeenth Street, but the reporter’s interview with Driver John Holmes was not faithfully described. And the ---- newspaper praised itself fulsomely for having been “the first to discover the true though only partial solution of the great gold mystery which was paralyzing the financial world.” The next day the same journal established a fresh surveillance not only over Strong & Co.’s banking house but over the Assay Office and the East Seventeenth Street stable. But the heavy covered wagon and the powerful chestnut horses were seen no more either in East Seventeenth Street, at Strong & Co.’s, or at the Assay Office. The enormous deposits of gold continued, however, at regular intervals. Several wagons carried loads of bullion to or from the Assay Office nearly every day, and the watchers were unable to identify the ones which brought the big gold deposits.