f him. She was a slender, attractive girl,
and a good actress, as it proved. She was pulling on gloves, and as is
usually the case while so doing, she had her purse tucked under her
arm.

She and Carrots were only a yard apart when Scotty appeared from the
doorway. He took a long step past Carrots, snatched Mildred's purse
from under her arm, whirled, and handed it to the astonished redhead.
Carrots' reaction was perfect. He took the purse stupidly and stood
there with his mouth open.

Scotty vanished back into the doorway. Mildred screamed.

Carrots saw immediately that he was being framed. He turned to run,
but forgot to let go of the purse. Mildred screamed again and Carrots
sprinted headlong into Duke Barrows. Duke held him for the moment it
took for the policeman to arrive.

It was too good to miss. Rick, Jerry, and the Captain walked back down
the street toward the confusion, trying hard to conceal their mirth.

Mildred pointed at the purse Carrots still clutched. "That," she
proclaimed dramatically, "is my purse!"

"I didn't take it," Carrots yelled. "Someone handed it to me!"

The officer scowled. "A likely story! Unless you had a confederate.
Where is he?"

Quite a crowd was gathering now. Mildred turned convincingly faint and
Duke had to prop her up. Rick's face was scarlet from choking back
laughter, because he was sure Carrots would burst from sheer anger at
any moment.

Then Carrots saw him. "You!" he screamed and jerked the policeman's
arm. "There he is! That's one of them. His friend took my--I mean it
was his friend who--"

The officer interrupted. "Do you know this boy?" he asked Rick.

Rick shook his head, his face solemn. "Never saw him before in my
life," he said calmly.

Jerry spoke in a stage whisper that could have been heard a block. "A
perfect criminal type if I ever saw one."

Cap'n Mike choked and had to turn away.

Rick nudged Jerry and they turned and walked rapidly back to the
parking lot. It was time to get going.

Scotty was standing by the car, grinning broadly. Cap'n Mike was weak
from laughing. "Y'know," he chortled, "I've heard the word 'ham' used
for actors, but I never got the full meaning until now. Never saw such
bad acting in my life, except for the girl. She was almost
convincing."

"On our way," Rick said, and laughter bubbled up as they got into the
car. As they pulled out into the traffic, they saw Carrots being
marched up the street toward the police st