ade,
and the four sallied out, father and son from each house.

"Isn't it lucky we put up that burglar alarm!" Tom whispered to his
father as they hastened across the avenue. "Now you see what a lot of
use it is. We'll have those burglars just as sure as they're born. You
and I can watch one side of the house, while Harry and his father watch
the other, and there's no possible way for them to escape."

Tom was suddenly silenced by the ominous click of a revolver. They were
in the Bailey grounds now, and Mr. Dailey had caught sight of two forms
moving among the shrubbery.

"Stop there!" Mr. Dailey said, in a low but very determined voice, his
cocked revolver pointing at the two forms. "Stop there! If you move
you're a dead man!"

"It's all right, Dailey," came the reassuring answer. "I'm Barker, and
this is Harry with me. We'll capture those burglars over at Baileys' if
we're smart about it."

Mr. Barker also had a revolver in his hand, and Harry, like Tom, carried
a baseball bat.

"Now I guess they see what use the burglar alarm is," Tom found a chance
to whisper to Harry. "But say, we must be careful where we hit them. I
don't think we ought really to kill one of them; better strike for their
shoulders and arms."

In a minute more Tom and his father were stationed where they could
watch the front and one side of the Bailey house, and Harry and his
father commanded the rear and the other side. No one could possibly
leave the house without being seen.

The strangest thing about it was that there was no light in the house,
not a sound to be heard, no sign that anything unusual was going on.
After a few minutes the watchers began to feel uneasy about this. Mr.
Dailey moved cautiously down toward the other corner.

"Hey, Barker!" he called, in a suppressed voice. "Any signs of a light
around there?"

"Not a bit," Mr. Barker replied. "Not a sound inside, either."

"I don't like that," Mr. Dailey said. "There may have been murder as
well as robbery. Keep a sharp eye out, and I'll give an alarm at the
front door."

Bang! bang! bang! went Mr. Dailey's boot against the front door. No
answer. Bang! bang! again.

"Hello!" said Mr. Bailey's voice at the second-story window.

"It's all right, Bailey," Mr. Barker shouted. "We're Barker and Dailey,
with the two boys, and we're all armed. You'd better come down and open
the door. They can't possibly escape."

"Who can't?" said the voice at the window.

"The burgla