"Stop!" cried Tom, but he knew the command was a useless one. At the
sound of his voice Merrick looked up and muttered something the boy
could not catch. Then he swung himself from the bottom landing of the
fire escape and dropped to the ground.

"If he can get down that way, so can I," thought Tom, and in another
moment he was descending the escape in the same fashion as the swindler
had done. As he reached the second landing of the escape he saw Merrick
turn the corner of the alleyway and disappear on the street beyond.

When Tom came out on the street he almost ran into the arms of two burly
men who had come out of the tenement. Both caught him by the arms.

"What does this mean, young fellow?" asked one, savagely. "Doing the
sneak-thief act?"

"I am after a thief," was the answer. "Did you see a man running away?"

"No, and we don't think there was a man," answered one of the tenement
dwellers.

"Well, there was a man," said Tom. "Come, if you will help me catch him
I will reward you well."

"What did he steal?"

"Some bonds worth ten thousand dollars--they belonged to my uncle,"
explained Tom, hastily.

The promise of a reward made the men attentive and they soon agreed to
assist Tom as much as possible. Then Dick and Sam came in sight, and had
to be told of what had happened.

The two men knew the tenement and factory district well, and they led in
a hunt lasting over half an hour, and a policeman was likewise called
into service.

"I've heard of that bond case," said the policeman. "I'd like to lay my
hands on Merrick."

But the hunt was a useless one, for Merrick could not be found. For
their trouble Tom gave the two men from the tenement a dollar each, with
which they had to be satisfied. The policeman promised to report the
matter at headquarters, and as there seemed to be nothing else to do,
the three Rover boys walked down to the steamboat dock, first, however,
sending a telegram to Randolph Rover, relating briefly what had
occurred.

"It's a great pity we didn't catch this Merrick," sighed Tom, when they
were steaming along the lake shore. "Perhaps we'll never see or hear of
him again."

"Well, we don't want Merrick as much as we want Uncle Randolph's
traction company bonds," answered Dick. "If he has disposed of the bonds
it won't do much good to catch him,--unless, of course, he can get the
bonds back."

"And he may not have had the bonds," put in Sam. "That fellow Pike may
have h