e as well.

The young fireman peered around the corner of the hut. He saw Slump
and Bemis making for the nearest timber. Ralph put after them, and as
he gained the cover of the woods, looking back, he made out three
figures dashing towards the blazing hut.

"Farrington and the others," decided Ralph. "This is an exciting
business. Now to keep track of Slump and Bemis. I can hardly figure
out, though, how they came to rob the hut, for Farrington was once
their friend."

The precious pair of thieves scurried along through the woods,
laughing and talking gleefully over the plunder they had secured. They
must have gone over three miles before they halted. It was at a spot
in among high bushes. Here they had evidently been camping previously,
for there was a lot of hay on the ground, the signs of a recent
campfire, and a sort of roof of bark overhead for shelter from rain
and dew. They sat down on the ground and Slump proceeded to light a
lantern.

"Your watching has amounted to something at last, Mort," said Slump.
"Farrington went back on us in a measly way. Why, after all we did for
him he took up with Jim Evans and others, and even refused me a few
dollars when we were in hiding and trouble after that silk robbery.
Here's our revenge. He's been up to some deep game for a week. He'll
never know who stole this plunder."

"Find how much of it there is," suggested Bemis.

Each took up a satchel to investigate the contents. Ralph was
intensely interested. He peered from a safe covert near at hand.

"Well, well, well!" exclaimed Slump as he opened the satchel taken
from the cupboard of the old hut. "Why, there's a fortune here, if we
can only handle it. Bonds of the Great Northern, stock in the Great
Northern. See? some money--notes, mortgages, deeds! This is a big
find."

"Same here, except the money," reported Bemis, investigating the
documents in the satchel brought from Stanley Junction by Bartlett.
"Mostly railroad stock in the Great Northern. Private letters, lists
of names of the strikers. Memoranda about some wire-tapping scheme.
Say, these papers are enough to send the old skeesicks to the
penitentiary. He'll pay a fortune to get them back."

Slump pocketed the ready cash in the satchel. Then he was silently
thoughtful for a few moments.

"See here, I have my scheme," he said finally. "We'll carry these
satchels down to the old barge at the creek, and hide them there. Then
we'll block out some plan to wo