Now, look. A freckle-faced parlor pirate with no more credentials than a park pan-handler blows in from nowhere particular, and tells a wild yarn about buried treasure on the west cost of Florida. First off he gets Old Hickory Ellins, president of the Corrugated Trust and generally a cagey old boy, more or less worked up. Mr. Ellins turns him over to me, with orders to watch him close while he's investigatin' the tale. Then, when I'm gabbin' free and careless about it to Vee, her Auntie sits there with her ear stretched. She wants to know what hotel I've left the Captain at. And the next mornin' he's gone. Also on other counts the arrow points to Auntie. There I was, too, on my way back to Old Hickory, figurin' whether I'd better resign first and report afterwards, or just take my chances that maybe after he'd slept on it he wouldn't be so keen about seein' this Captain Killam again. Then the whole thing hit me on the funnybone. Haw-haw! Auntie, the sober old girl with the mixed-pickle disposition, suddenly comin' to life and pinchin' Old Hickory's find while he's tryin' to make up his mind whether it's phony or not. Auntie, of all people! More hearty haw-haws. When I finally does drift into Old Hickory's private office and he motions me to shut the door, I'm still registerin' merry thoughts. "Well?" says he, snappin' it out crisp. "You'd never guess," says I, smotherin' a chuckle. "Eh?" says he, shootin' a puzzled glance at me from under them overhangin' eyebrows of his. "Who wants to guess? What about Captain Killam?" "That's just it," says I. "He's flitted." "Wha-a-at!" snorts Old Hickory. "You don't mean he has gone?" "Uh-huh!" says I. "Been lured away. But say,"--here I indulges in my most comic open-face movement,--"who do you suppose did the trick on us?" Old Hickory stares at me and waves his cigar impatient. "Go on," he growls. "You know Miss Vee's aunt," says I, "Mrs. Cornelia Hemmingway? Well, she's got him. Yep! Just naturally kidnapped him, I expect. I had my suspicions of her the minute I found the Captain was gone. So I chases right up there. She's out. The maid admits she went away with a party answerin' Killam's description. I wouldn't have been sure, though, if I hadn't found a map of Florida on the lib'ry table and Nunca Secos Key marked on it. Now, what do you know about that? Auntie! Ain't that rich?" No hilarity from Old Hickory--not even one of them cracked concrete smiles of his. He just sits there glarin' at me, missin' the comedy cue altogether. "Young man," says he, "just a moment before we get any further off the track. How did Mrs. Hemmingway happen to learn about Captain Killam?" "Why," says I, "she had her ear out while, I was tellin' Miss Vee. Would you believe, though, that an old girl like her--"