just what kind I couldn't
determine."

"Your description would lead me to believe that it was a coon."

"No, I don't think it was a coon, or I would have been able to
distinguish it by its smell."

"I didn't know but that it might be a coon trained to steal and sneak
out. I've heard of such things, and it is by no means impossible, for
you know that coons, like crows, are natural-born thieves."

"By Jove, that gives me an idea. I think it was a dog, and that its
strange gait was due to the fact that the money had been tied upon him
so that he would get away with it in case Farley was caught."

"No, the dog theory is wrong. What about a trained monkey?" Stella
looked around the table to see how this was taken.

"C'rect!" shouted Bud. "Stella, yer struck ther problem a solar plexus
thet time."

"That does seem reasonable, and if it is true it solves the mysterious
robberies of the Strongburg Trust Company's office, the post office, and
Creviss' bank," said Ted.

"It's worth looking into, anyway," said Ben. "Now I wonder if there is
such a thing as a trained monkey in my marvelous and magnificent
gathering of the splendors of the Orient out there. By Jove, I'm going
through that camp with a fine-tooth comb, and if I find a monk, I'll
habeas-corpus him, and we'll hang him to the rafters."

"Well, mum's the word about the money," warned Ted. "We don't want this
thing to leak out. If it does, there's a chance against us."

Although they all felt pretty blue about the loss of the money, they had
nothing but hearty welcomes and smiles for their guests, who began to
arrive from all parts of the county, and from far-distant States and
Territories, to help rejoice with the boys for a prosperous year, not
knowing that all the prosperity had fallen into the hands of thieves.

The grounds about the ranch house had been gayly decorated for the
occasion. An enormous American flag flapped and snapped in the fresh
breeze from the top of a tall staff in front of the house, and the Belle
Fourche band was playing in a gayly decorated stand. The showmen had
erected their tents, and already the boys and girls from the ranches and
towns were going in and out, witnessing the wonders to be beheld in
them.

Stella was receiving her girl guests on the veranda, for she was a great
favorite among the cowgirls in the country on account of her
friendliness and unaffected ways.

Mrs. Graham was welcoming the older women, while Ted and