ing the tobacco in the chest, he said, "Look out there!
You'll have to get everything just like it was, or we'll be caught and
have had our fun for nothing!" When the chest was repacked, the last
screw in its place, and the tiny scraps of tobacco that had fallen upon
the floor had been carefully preserved, the boys looked at one another
with satisfaction, and Will said, "That's a pretty slick job all right,
if I do say so; and its a lot better than breaking the lock would have
been. I'll tell you it takes some brains to do up a thing like that,
and it makes me feel as if I'd like more of them."

To this John smiled and said: "Hey, Will, do you know what's in that
trunk?" John referred to a large trunk that was sitting near the bed
on the opposite side of the room.

"Couldn't tell you all that's in it, but it's locked; and it's in that
trunk that Dad keeps his revolvers. There's two of them, because I saw
inside the trunk the other day." And then as the new thought presented
itself to his mind, he exclaimed, "I wonder why we couldn't get into
that trunk the same as we did the chest?"

In a twinkling, all the boys were examining the trunk, but to their
dismay, they found that the hinges, instead of being on the outside of
the trunk, were arranged differently, and they could not get at them.
Again it was John who suggested a plan whereby they could accomplish
their desires. "Just take a nail," he said, "and turn the head of it
around in the lock. I've watched my father do that, and he gets his
open every time."

The trunk, which was an old one, yielded quickly to the efforts made
by the boys; and upon raising the lid, they saw before them two shining
weapons that were supposed to have been carefully hidden away from their
inexperienced fingers. John and Will each quickly caught one up in his
hand; and Will began handling his as though it were a toy, but not so
did John.

John's father had taught him something of the dangers connected with the
handling of a gun or revolver. Besides, John was at one time present
when a duel was fought; and on that occasion one of the duelists was
killed. The memory of that incident and of his father's warnings, made
John very careful about pointing the revolver at either of his cousins.
It was, therefore, with intense fear that John looked into the barrel
of his cousin's revolver as Will snapped it, aimlessly pointing in his
direction; and John exclaimed, "Turn that thing away, or you'l