HAND

After that, there was nothing to do but to tell their story in detail,
to which the government official listened with close attention. Then
he asked them many questions.

"You are certainly in hard luck," said he when they had finished.
"Beyond the slightest doubt, those men at the ranch are desperate
characters, and I don't know but what I ought to summon help and
arrest them on the spot."

"Den vy not do dot?" asked Hans. "Ve vill hellup, too."

"If those men are what I take them to be, I want to catch them
red-handed,'' responded James Monday.

"What do you take them to be?" asked Tom.

"Can I trust you boys to keep a secret?"

"Yes," came from each of the crowd.

"Then I'll tell you. Unless I am very much mistaken, the men at Red
Rock ranch are counterfeiters."

"Counterfeiters!" came in a chorus.

"So I believe. I may be mistaken, but all the evidence I have points
in that direction. I have been following this trail from Philadelphia,
where I caught a fellow passing bad twenty-dollar bills. He confessed
that he got the bills from a fellow in Washington who claimed to be
printing them from some old government plates. That story was, of
course, nonsense, since no government plates of such a bill are
missing. I followed the trail to Washington, and there met a crook
named Sacord. He, so I discovered, got his money from two men, one
the owner of this ranch. Where the bad bills were manufactured was
a mystery, but, by nosing around, I soon learned that the owner of
the ranch never allowed strangers near his place, and that he sometimes
had strange pieces of machinery shipped there. Then I put two and
two together and came to the conclusion that the bad bills were
printed here. Now, I want to prove it, and not only round up the
gang, but also get possession of the bogus printing plates. If the
government don't get the plates, somebody may keep on manufacturing
the bad bills."

"In that case, it is just as important to get the plates as the
criminals," put in Songbird.

"Well, this stumps me," declared Tom. "No wonder they kept chasing
us off."

"And no wonder Sam and Dick were made prisoners," added Fred.

"I hope the rascals don't do them harm," said Tom. "If I thought
that, I'd be for moving on the ranch without delay."

"I think your brothers will be safe enough for the time being," came
from James Monday. "I am sorry that you let that dolt get away from you."

"If we had thought it of such