igh of evident relief, and now that he felt himself safe, all
his old bluster came back to him.

"It's mighty lucky for you that Bixby came out just then," he declared.
"I was just getting ready to thrash you within an inch of your life."

Joe laughed sarcastically.

"The trouble with you, Buck, is that you spend so much time getting
ready that you never have any time for real fighting," he remarked. "It
took you an awfully long time to get your coat unbuttoned."

"They laugh best who laugh last," growled Buck. "And don't forget that
you fellows have got to pay for that glass you broke."

"You've got another guess coming," replied Joe. "You or one of your gang
broke that glass and we can prove it."

"I wasn't downtown that night at all," said Buck glibly.

"Don't add any more lies to your score," said Joe scornfully. "We've got
you! You and your gang are the only fellows in town who would put stones
in snowballs, anyway."

"If that's all the evidence you've got, it wouldn't go far in a court of
law," sneered Buck. "Any judge would see that you were trying to back
out of it by putting it up to somebody else."

"Perhaps you don't know that Mr. Talley bumped into you while you were
running away," remarked Joe.

This shot told, for Buck had banked on the darkness and had forgotten
all about his encounter with Mr. Talley. He had been nursing the
comfortable assurance that all he had to do was to deny. Now his house
of cards had come tumbling about his ears. Mr. Talley was a respected
citizen, and his word would be accepted by everybody.

Joe saw the effect of his remark and smiled drily.

"Want to revise that statement of yours that you weren't downtown at all
last night?" he asked, with affected politeness.

"He--he was mistaken," stammered Buck weakly, as he walked away,
followed by his discomfited cronies.

"I guess that will hold him for a while," chuckled Jimmy, as the radio
boys watched his retreating figure.

Two or three days passed without special developments. The broken pane
of glass had been restored and the parents of the boys had been formally
notified by the insurance company that they would be held responsible
jointly for the damages. A similar notice had been sent to the fathers
of Buck and his mates.

Mr. Looker replied, denying that his son was at all implicated in the
matter and refusing to pay. Mr. Layton admitted that his son had been
throwing snowballs in front of the store on the ni