men covered the crowd with his revolver, the
other moved swiftly from person to person collecting jewelry, watches
and money.

Penny saw Mrs. Dillon, pale and frightened, trying to drop her pearl
necklace into a flower pot, but she was not quick enough. The holdup
man jerked the string from her hand.

"Oh, no you don't, lady," he snarled. He admired the pearls an instant
before dropping them into a small cloth bag which he carried.

Penny stood next in line. She wore no jewelry save an inexpensive
brooch which had belonged to her mother. Tears came into her eyes as
the thief jerked it from her dress.

"Oh, please don't take that--" she began.

"Make no resistance," Mr. Nichols ordered curtly.

Penny relapsed into silence. She was a trifle puzzled at her father's
attitude for she had always imagined that in such a situation he would
be the first to fly into action.

The holdup man paused in front of the detective.

"Your money and valuables," he commanded.

"Help yourself," the detective invited cheerfully.

As the holdup man reached into an inside pocket, Mr. Nichols' fist shot
out, catching him squarely under the jaw. The startled thief staggered
back and dropped his bag of loot. Before he could recover from the
blow, the detective wrenched the revolver from his grasp.

"Look out!" Penny screamed. From the opposite side of the room the
other holdup man was taking careful aim at the detective.

Mr. Nichols whirled and fired. The shot buried itself in the wall, but
it was close enough to the crook to warn him that the detective was no
amateur at handling firearms.

"Scram!" he yelled warningly to his companion.

They fled into the garden with the detective in close pursuit. The two
thieves were too hard pressed to give any thought to the lost bag of
loot. Several shots were exchanged but the men succeeded in reaching
their car which was parked in the driveway. The engine roared as they
sped away. Springing into his own automobile, Nichols took up the
pursuit but he soon abandoned it as useless, returning to the house.

There he telephoned the police, offering not only the license number of
the fleeing automobile but a detailed description of the men.

"The radio cruiser ought to pick them up in a few minutes," he told
Penny.

While a curious crowd gathered about he took a knife and extracted the
bullet which had been fired into the wall.

"What will you do with that?" someone questione