amp, and that's all there is to it!"

"And I told you at the time," the stranger interrupted, "that the tramp
tried to rob me! That was all right, too. He did try to rob me, but I
didn't have a blessed cent in my possession, so he didn't get anything!
The tramp who got a hold of me night before last stripped me clean! And
that, you see, is why I haven't got any money to buy provisions with.
And also that's the reason why I'm hungry."

The four boys gathered around the stranger and began a systematic course
of questions which at first brought forth only unsatisfactory answers.

"And also," the boy went on, taking up the speech he had begun some
minutes before, "that's why two other boys are hungry just about this
time. I got rolled for my wad plenty."

"That's South Clark street!" laughed Tommy.

"That's Bowery!" corrected the other.

"What'd you say about other boys being hungry?" asked Sandy.

"I said that's why two other boys are hungry."

"They ain't hungry any more," Tommy declared with a wink.

"That listens good!" the stranger said.

"Because," continued Tommy, "they came in here about an hour ago and
stole everything they could get their hands on."

"Brave boys!" laughed the other.

"You wasn't hiding behind the door when they gave out nerve, either!"
declared Tommy. "Here these boys come here and steal our grub and you
seem to think they did a noble thing! What's your name, anyhow?"

"Buck," was the reply. "Elmer Cyrus Buck, 409 Lexington Avenue, N. Y. C.
Member of the Wolf Patrol, Boy Scouts of America, and just about ready
to scrap for something to eat!"

"Why didn't you say so before?" Tommy exclaimed, setting a great slice
of ham and several freshly boiled eggs, together with bread and butter
and canned tomatoes, before the young man. "Why didn't you say something
about being a Boy Scout before you tried to hold us up for a hand-out?
You seem to go at everything wrong end first!"

"How long since you've seen Jimmie Maynard and Dick Thompson?" asked
Will. "You must have failed to connect with them tonight!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because, if you had bumped into them, they would have fed you out of
the provisions they stole from us!"

"I haven't been looking for them tonight!" Elmer replied. "I tried to
follow you to the mine," he added turning to Tommy and Sandy, "when you
left me at the car. But, somehow, I lost track of you in the darkness,
and when you finally got into the mine, I