membership, but had not been admitted on account of his unsavory
reputation. Smarting under this sting Jud had turned to Hank Lawson
and his crowd for sympathy, and was known to be hand-in-glove with
those young rowdies.

"He's been spying on us, that's what!" cried Bobolink, indignantly.

"And learning our plans, like as not!" added Tom Betts.

"He ought to be caught and ridden on a rail!" exclaimed a third member
of the troop, filled with anger.

"I'd say duck him in the river after cutting a hole in the ice!"
called out another boy, furiously.

"Huh! first ketch your rabbit before you start cookin' him!" laughed
Jud in a jeering fashion, as he waved them a mocking adieu through the
broken window, and then vanished from view.

"After him, fellows!" shouted the impetuous Bobolink, and there was a
hasty rush for the door, the boys snatching up their hats as they
ran.

Paul was with the rest, not that he cared particularly about catching
the eavesdropper, but he wanted to be on hand in case the rest of the
scouts overtook Jud; for Paul held the reputation of the troop dear,
and would not have the scouts sully their honor by a mean act.

The boys poured out of the meeting-place in a stream. The bright moon
showed them a running figure which they judged must of course be Jud;
so away they sprang in hot pursuit.

Somehow, it struck them that Jud was not running as swiftly as might
be expected, for he had often proved himself a speedy contestant on
the cinder path. He seemed to wabble more or less, and looked back
over his shoulder many times.

Bobolink suspected there might be some sort of trick connected with
this action on the part of the other, for Jud was known to be a
schemer.

"Jack, he may be drawing us into a trap of some sort, don't you
think?" he managed to gasp as he ran at the side of the other.

Apparently Jack, too, had noticed the queer actions of the fugitive.
He had seen a mother rabbit pretend to be lame when seeking to draw
enemies away from the place where her young ones lay hidden; yes, and
a partridge often did the same thing, as he well knew.

"I was noticing that, Bobolink," he told the other, "but it strikes me
Jud must have been hurt somehow when he crashed through that window."

"You mean he feels more or less weak, do you?"

"Something like that," came the reply.

"Well, we're coming up on him like fun, anyway, no matter what the
cause may be!" Bobolink declared, and then fou