" sang Lil Artha.

"And as every scout present has his own hat on his head right now, it
stands to reason this couldn't belong to any of us, eh, fellows?"

"To clinch the matter, Elmer," observed Matty, "if you look inside the
hat you'll find two little silver letters fastened there. The N. S.
stands for Nathaniel Scott."

"Well, that point seems proved. Nat was here. Perhaps in wandering about
he struck this place. But the indications are he was captured first, and
brought to this shack."

"But," said hasty Red, interrupting Elmer, "if you admit that these
Italians have made our pard a prisoner, how can you say they are not bad
men, thieves wanted by the officers of the law, even if not anarchists?"

"Some things I can only guess at, without being able to explain my
conviction. But, honestly, fellows, I hardly think these people are as
bad as you make out. I know blackmail is practiced over in Italy a lot.
And that one of the favorite ways to get money is to kidnap the son or
daughter of a rich man, and demand a heavy ransom. But in this case they
would hardly pick Nat Scott for a pigeon to be plucked. His father is
only a schoolmaster. There are others here who would seem to be more
attractive bait."

"Hear, hear!" cried Lil Artha, casting a meaning look in the direction
of Larry Billings, whose father, being a banker, was reckoned the
richest man in all Hickory Ridge.

"But ain't we wasting a heap of time here?" asked Red, impatient as
always to be doing something.

"That's just what I was saying to Ted here," declared Larry, whom the
meaning glance of Lil Artha had plainly rendered uneasy.

"You may think so," remarked Elmer, "but this is a case of the more
haste the less speed. I reckon it's wise for us to make sure about the
character of these Italians before we go to chasing after them. They're
an excitable lot, you know, and we might bring on trouble that could
just as well be avoided if we went slow."

Matty looked at his leader sharply.

"Say, see here, Elmer," he remarked, "you know, or anyhow you've got a
pretty good hunch, who these people are?"

"Why, yes, Italians," laughed the other.

"Now, that ain't what I mean," Matty went on. "No dodging, but own up."

"You're wrong there," Elmer said. "I don't know, and my suspicions so
far are founded on such slight evidence that I don't care to commit
myself before the whole of you--yet."

"But from what you said just now," Matty continued, "you