elf crashing to
the floor below. Next thing I knew, Dick and Phil here came tumbling out
after me, and in another few moments, we found ourselves arrested and
taken to the police station; now that lets me out. Now Dick, your story
is the next shortest, and I don't suppose that anything happened to you
that was any more exciting than my search."

"Don't you fool yourself on that score," said Dick, "because I think I
have some very startling news. There has been so much excitement in the
last hour or two that I have given little or no thought to it. I went,
as you know, to the top floor, and there hearing nothing or seeing no
light, I simply crept from door to door, peeking through the keyhole,
and then listening closely to see if I could hear anything stirring
within. Search of several doors revealed nothing, until I came to one
back of which I believed was several men, as I seemed to hear a low
murmur of voices. The keyhole was plugged up, so I got down on my knees;
I could see no light coming out from beneath the door. I was certain
someone was in the room, so very cautiously I turned the handle, but
the door refused to budge an inch. However, there was one way to find
out. In getting out my knife, I drilled a small hole through the door,
using the point of the knife. I had no sooner finished this, when a
small gleam of light came through the door, showing that I had not been
wrong in my conclusions. Without making any noise, I enlarged the hole,
so that I could get a clearer view of the room. There were three men
sitting about a table, playing cards. It was certain that the screams
did not come from this room, and I was about to knock on the door, when
suddenly I recognized the men. You remember the week before we went into
the big woods, and the adventure we had when we caught the three tramps
in our shack by the river? Well, right there, sitting at that table,
were the identical three men for whom we received the reward!"

"You must be mistaken Dick," remarked Garry. "Those three were dangerous
men, but I don't believe they could have escaped from the jail in
Portland."

"Nevertheless," said Dick, "I am absolutely certain that those are the
three. There are any number of ways in which they might have gotten
away. There is even a chance that they have been tried by this time, and
have been released."

"That seems hardly possible," interrupted Phil. "The authorities were
sure they had the right men or they would n