hay. Tom could not understand
it, and could see no one firing--could detect no smoke.

"Are they gone? Did they rob ye?" asked the foremost of the trio, a
burly, grizzled farmer. "Bust my buttons, but I guess we skeered 'em
all right!"

"Bless my shoe buttons, but you certainly have!" cried Mr. Damon,
descending from the automobile, and wringing the hand of the farmer,
while Tom, thrust the bag of money under his legs and waited further
developments. The pistol shots rang out until one of the men called:

"That'll do, Bub! We've skeered 'em like Mrs. Zenoby's pet cat! You
needn't crack that whip any more."

"Whip!" cried Tom. "Was that a whip?"

"That's what it was," explained the leading farmer. "Bub Armstrong, my
nephew, can crack it to beat th' band," and as if in proof of this
there emerged from behind the load of hay a small lad, carrying a large
whip, to which he gave a few trial cracks, like pistol shots, as if to
show his ability.

"It's all right, Bub," his uncle assured him. "We made 'em run."

"But I don't exactly understand," spoke Mr. Damon. "I thought you were
in league with those thieves, stopping us as you did with your big
load."

"So did I," admitted Tom.

"Ha! Ha!" laughed the farmer. "That's a pretty good joke. Excuse me
for laughin'. My name's Lyon, Jethro Lyon, of Salina Township, an'
these is my two sons, Ade and Burt. You see we're on our way to
Shopton, an' my nephew, Bub, he went along. We thought you was some of
them sassy automobile fellers at first when you hollered to us you
wanted to pass. Then when we looked back, we seen them burglars goin'
t' rob you, at least that's what we suspicioned," and he paused
suggestively.

"That was it," Tom said.

"Wa'al, when we seen that, we held a sort of consultation on thet load
of hay, where they couldn't see us. It was so big you know," he
needlessly explained. "Wa'al, we calcalated we could help you, so I
jest quietly backed up, until we was near enough. I told Bub to take
the long whip, an' crack it for all he was wuth, so's it would sound
like reinforcements approachin' with guns, an' he done it."

"He certainly done it," added Burt.

"Wa'al," resumed Mr. Lyon, "then me an my sons we jest slipped down off
the front seat, an' come a runnin' with our pitchforks. I reckoned
them burglars would run when they see us an' heard us, an' they done
so."

"Yep, they done so," added Ade, like an echo.

"I can't tell you how much oblig