that the situation was a reality and not a thing of the
imagination. Then he emerged from his dazed state, becoming immediately
alert; he said something to Fenton in a quick, nervous sort of way, and
the man with the broken nose stopped at once in his eager career, yet
with all the indications remaining of one who ached to disburden
himself.

Hutchinson placed the care of the tables in the hands of a boy who
assisted him, and then went with Fenton to a far corner where the
disfigured one recommenced his interrupted communication.

"That guy's lucky to get away with a plain beating," remarked Big Slim,
as he chalked his cue. "For I got something on him--something strong."

"That so?" said Scanlon, as he surveyed the array of balls on the table
with a great deal of assumed attention.

"Remember what I told you about the woman and the 'sparks' I meant to
lift?"

"Oh, yes," said Bat, without a quiver; "and the husband that beat you to
it."

"The husband was croaked that night," said Big Slim, tossing the chalk
upon a near-by window ledge. "And Fenton is the guy who did it."

CHAPTER XXII

WHAT DANNY SAW AT QUIGLEY'S

Bat Scanlon touched the cue ball, deftly; the ball it struck broke away
at a sharp angle and vanished into a pocket.

"I'm getting case hardened," was the big athlete's mental comment. "A
day or two ago this news would have rocked me to the foundations; now
I'm not even jarred."

But, as he straightened up, he said to the burglar:

"So friend husband went out under the care of the lad with the concave
face! Well, well! That is some startling tidings."

"I could send him to the chair if I wanted to," said Big Slim,
longingly. "But I never hook up with the 'bulls' for anything. So I'll
just either 'gun' him, or you'll slug him, whichever way it turns out."

"Keep the gun hid," advised Bat. "You can't get away with that stuff.
I'll take this fellow on, and in a morning or two you'll hear how he's
holding down a bed in a neighboring hospital with enough bruises and
contusions to fill a peach basket."

"All right," said Big Slim, grinning appreciatively. "The job's in your
hands. Don't be too long, for Bohlmier's waiting, and it was his idea in
the first place."

"It might come off in an hour,--who knows?" said Bat. "But," with a
glance at Fenton, "it does seem a pity to crush all that enthusiasm. He
must be happier at this minute than he's been for years."

The broken-nosed man's excit