“‘Captain Dillon was returning to his lodgings at the time and had nearly arrived at his door. The street then appeared to be deserted. When passing the entrance to a narrow court, however, in which his assailants evidently had been lying in wait for him, Captain Dillon was set upon from behind and struck senseless with a bludgeon of some kind. The assault was so quickly committed that he had hardly a glimpse at his assailants, insufficient to identify them, or positively determine their number. “‘Paul Makepeace, a lawyer living in the same street, turned a corner just in time to see the three men running away and the insensible form of Captain Dillon lying on the sidewalk. Makepeace at once gave chase, overtaking one of the fleeing men in Indiana Avenue, where he was given in charge of a policeman. “‘The arrested man is Thomas Carney, and he is well known to the local police. He has twice been convicted of petty larceny, and is said to be of a depraved and desperate character. “‘Carney insists, nevertheless, that he was walking some thirty yards behind Captain Dillon, when two men sprang out of the court and felled the captain to the ground. Carney protests that he does not know either of the two ruffians, in pursuit of whom he claims to have started, and who appeared to have no other designs upon their unsuspecting victim. “‘This is confirmed in a measure by the fact that Captain Dillon was not robbed of anything, though he had considerable money and jewelry on his person. The thugs, on the other hand, may have feared to complete their work. “‘In the gutter near which Captain Dillon fell was found a false beard and mustache, evidently a disguise worn by one of the thugs, and which presumably was torn off and lost in the brief combat. “‘Captain Dillon states that he is completely in the dark as to the motive for the assault, as well as the identity of his assailants. He appeared in the municipal court when Carney was arraigned on Saturday morning. He was unable to refute the prisoner’s statements, however, and Carney has been held pending further investigations. The case bids fair to remain, nevertheless, an unsolved mystery.’” Patsy lowered the newspaper while he read the last line of the article, gazing over it at Chick who said indifferently: “I see nothing very mysterious in that. The thugs had a grudge against Dillon for some reason, and they got back at him by knocking him on the head.” “They did that all right, at least,” Patsy said dryly. “It reads like a lot of smoke from a very small fire,” Chick added. “There is nothing to it, in my opinion, if the whole truth were told. The reporter who wrote it up must have been working on space, or----”