Herb, then sobered again
as he thought of his father's loss.

"It's bad enough," he said gloomily, "to hear of other people's property
being stolen, but when it comes right down to your own family, it's
getting a little too close for comfort."

"What is your dad going to do about it?" asked Bob.

Herb shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture.

"What can he do?" he asked. "Except what everybody else has done--inform
the police and hope the rascals will be caught. And even if they are
caught," he added, still more gloomily, "it won't do dad much good,
except that he'll get revenge. The crooks will probably have disposed of
all their stolen property before they're caught."

"Well, I don't know," said Bob hopefully. "Those fellows are getting a
little bit too daring for their own good. Some day they'll go too far
and get caught."

"I hope so. But crooks like that are pretty foxy," returned Herb,
refusing to be cheered. "They're apt to get away with murder before
they're caught."

The lads were silent for a moment, trying to think things out, and when
Bob spoke he unconsciously put into words something of what his comrades
were thinking.

"It seems as if radio ought to be able to help out in a case like this,"
he said, with a puzzled frown. "But I must say I don't see how it can."

"It can't," returned Herb. "If some one had been lucky enough to get a
glimpse of one of the thieves, then good old radio would have its
chance. We could wireless the description all over the country and
before long somebody would make a capture."

Bob nodded.

"That's where the cunning of these rascals comes in," he said. "Either
nobody sees them at all, or when they do the thieves are so well
disguised by masks that a useful description isn't possible."

"Were the fellows who held up your father's truck masked?" asked Jimmy
with interest.

Herb nodded.

"From all I can hear," he said. "It was a regular highway robbery
affair--masks, guns, and all complete. The driver of the truck said
there were only two of them, but since they had guns and he was unarmed,
there wasn't anything he could do.

"They made him get down off the truck, and then they bound his hands
behind him and hid him behind some bushes that bordered the road. He
would probably be there yet if he hadn't managed to get the gag out of
his mouth and hail some people passing in an automobile. Poor fellow!"
he added. "Any one might have thought he had robbed the