"Saturday night."

"Get much?"

"Don't know yet, but reckon 'twas only a few hundred. Brinkley lost a
lot of provisions, too, but fortunately his safe was empty."

"Well, I declare! Any clue?"

"Not so far. Rain wiped out all tracks that might have been made. Had
a corker of a thunderstorm that night."

"Well, well! Now what do you think of that! What steps are you taking
toward the capture of the thieves?"

"Posse out scouring the desert."

"Humph!"

"Well, what else can we do without clues?"

"_Find_ some clues. You'll never catch the rascals by scouring the
desert with a handful of men. They must have gone into camp close by,
or they would never have stocked up. Bet they are new at the business.
_Must_ be to make a mistake like that. I'd laugh if they had never
left town." And gathering up the reins, he drove on, followed by the
cavalcade of burros.

The children were greatly excited. Burglaries in that lonely little
desert town were unheard of, and this novel experience furnished food
for their lively imaginations to feed upon. Tabitha was particularly
impressed, for never before in her short life had a robbery occurred so
near home, and she could think of little else. A reward of two hundred
dollars had been offered for the capture of the thieves, and as soon as
the little brood in the Eagles' Nest heard of this, they began to amuse
themselves by telling how they would spend the money if by chance they
could win the reward.

"I'd buy me a pony," said Toady, as they sat on the shady side of the
house discussing the all-absorbing topic. "Ma said she never should
get us another after Spotty kicked her when she struck it with the
whip."

"I'd save it towards a motorcycle," declared Billiard boastfully. "No
ponies for mine! With another hundred I could get a dandy machine, and
then wouldn't you see me spinning about the country just as I pleased!"

"It would almost pay for another term at Ivy Hall," sighed Mercedes,
who, though she never mentioned the matter, knew that the family purse
was too flat to permit of her returning to her beloved school with the
coming of September.

"I'd buy a little house in Los Angeles and go there to live," said
Irene. "It must be pretty where there are real trees and flowers the
year around."

"It's not your turn," Susie objected. "I'd buy--I'd buy--what _would_
I buy? There are so many things I want, but I b'lieve I'd go
travelling. Two hundred