must have nearly scared Leon to
death. I wonder now, did it happen to hit either of them when it came
tumbling down after emptying out all the iced water? Oh! I'll laugh
myself nearly sick every time I think of this dandy trap of yours."

Of course, the interior of the Belgian hares' quarters was a sight to
behold, after all that downpour; but anticipating this, the careful
Hugh had placed his pets where they could not be injured by the flood.

"See here what they left behind them," remarked Hugh, picking up what
turned out to be a stout gunny-sack. "Well, I'm glad to find this,
because it seems to prove that they meant to steal my hares, and not
kill them."

"Just about as bad in the long run!" declared Thad, scornfully. "Like
as not that Nick would have thrown them into the river, with a stone
tied to the bag, in order to hide all traces. Then, no matter how much
you might suspect them, you couldn't prove a thing. But Hugh, they
made a terrible slip if they figured on that, because, see here what
I've found."

He held something up.

"Leon's hand-torch, for a certainty!" exclaimed Hugh. "In his sudden
fright he lost it, and was in too great a hurry to think of trying to
find his property again."

"You've got him where you want him, all right, Hugh," snapped Thad,
suddenly. "All you have to do is to leave this here and fetch Chief
Wambold around to notice that it lies in your rabbit hutch. Then Leon
will have to explain how he came to leave it here."

"Oh! I sort of feel that those fellows have been punished enough as it
is," the other went on to say, slowly.

"You're too easy on the skunks, Hugh, take my word for it," said Thad,
with a trace of disappointment in his voice. "A fellow like Nick Lang
never can appreciate such a thing as leniency. You've got to give him
what he believes in, and that's brute force. Well, then, if you won't
have Leon arrested, at least you can keep this hand-torch as a trophy
of the momentous occasion. It'll serve to remind you of this pleasant
night's entertainment. While not so fine a torch as mine, still it
seems to be O. K. You'll do that, I hope, Hugh?"

But the other shook his head.

"I don't want the thing, Thad, I assure you I don't," he said. "I'll
send it to Leon with a little satirical note, telling him that while I
thank him very much for leaving me his torch, I have always made it a
rule not to accept presents from those who were not my intimate
f