ITH THE SCAR

A few days later Teddy came rushing up to Fred on the campus, his face
aglow with excitement.

"Say, Fred," he gasped, "I saw one of them to-day!"

"One of whom?" asked Fred.

"The tramps that looted Cy Brigg's store," responded Teddy.

"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Fred, catching his brother's excitement.
"Are you sure? Where did you see him? How do you know he was one of
them?"

"By the scar on his face," answered Teddy. "You remember the tall one
who looked as if some one had stabbed him up near the temple? I'm sure
he's the same one we saw in Sam Perkins' barn."

"Wasn't the other fellow with him?" asked Fred.

"No, he was all alone this time. I was coming up from the post office
with Lester Lee when I caught sight of him near the railroad track. He
looked tough and slouchy, but not as ragged as when we first saw him."

"Yes," interrupted Fred, "he's had money since then."

"I thought there was something about him that reminded me of some one,"
went on Teddy, "but it wasn't till after I'd passed him that it came
over me who he was. Then I turned around to go after him, with the idea
of having him arrested. But he had just gone over the tracks in front of
a freight train. The train was a long one and we had to wait several
minutes on this side before it got by. Then it was too late. We hunted
all over, but couldn't see anything of him."

"That was hard luck," said Fred regretfully.

"Of course," resumed Teddy, "he wasn't trying to get away, because he'd
never seen me before, and didn't know that I'd ever seen him. He must
have turned a corner somewhere and then melted out of sight. Maybe I
wasn't sore! Think what a satisfaction it would be to telegraph to Uncle
Aaron that we'd got the fellow who stole his watch."

"It's certainly tough," assented Fred, "to come so close to him and just
miss getting him. I'll 'phone down right away to the constable at Green
Haven, and tell him to be on the lookout for the fellow."

"Tell him there's a reward out for him," suggested Teddy. "That'll make
him keep his eye peeled."

Fred telephoned at once, and received the assurance that the fellow
would be arrested if found, and held as a suspicious character until the
Oldtown authorities could send for him.

And the next day, the boys themselves, together with a number of their
friends, spent all their spare time searching in that part of the town
where the tramp had disappeared.

"It's no use, I g