Jeff gave thanks for this bit of coincidence. "I met him at the cabin and he's all right. He's getting everything a youngster should have, though of course if your official duties call for so doing, you may take him. Naturally, I'll have to go with him and bring him right back, so there may be a bit of trouble. You were going to take him to an orphanage, weren't you?" "Where else?" "Ah, yes," Jeff agreed. "Where else? Splendid place, an orphanage. Ideal for those with no one to whom they might turn." "I got a letter from some school in Ackerton. Said the kid left there right after his dad's funeral and hasn't been seen since. Said they thought he'd come here and I should be on the watch for him." "An error," Jeff murmured. "Why don't you write to the school?" "Maybe I'd better." "Do that," Jeff urged. "How long does it take a letter to get to Ackerton and a reply back here?" "About a week." Jeff made up his mind to visit Ackerton before the week was out--and maybe Bill Ellis needn't send his letter. "I'm going to Ackerton," Jeff said. "I'll bring written confirmation from the school if you want it." "Well, if you're going there--" "Let's leave it that way," Jeff said quickly. "If you care to check in the meanwhile, you can ask Dan. Who killed his father, anyway?" "If I knew, he'd be in jail." "Haven't you any ideas?" "Sure I have. It's one of maybe twenty-five or thirty people." "Have you questioned them?" "How well are you acquainted around here?" "I just got in." "That explains it then." "Explains what?" "Your not knowing why I haven't questioned twenty-five or thirty people. Let me tell--" Bill Ellis spoke at length of those who lived in Smithville and those who abode in the mountains surrounding it. The town dwellers, with few exceptions, were industrious people who were glad to work for the lumber company and to accept a weekly pay check. They seldom caused trouble. Those residing in the hills were a different breed. They worked when they felt like it, which was not often, and few of them could bear the yoke of a steady job for more than three weeks at a time. They did for themselves and took their living from the wilderness. Of late years, with hunters and fishermen finding their way into the hills, guiding them had become a good source of income. But the only reason the hill people were willing to guide was because they usually spent all their time hunting or fishing anyway. They made their own laws, lived by their own code, and united only when outside forces threatened any part of their way of life.