dropped his irksome labor and slouched lazily toward
the machine, the occupants of which were descending and heading for the
Case front door. Jeb Case met them before they reached the porch and
Willie lolled against a pillar listening eagerly to all that was said.

The most imposing figure among the strangers was the same whom Bridge
had seen approaching the Squibbs' house a short time before. It was he
who acted as spokesman for the newcomers.

"As you may know," he said, after introducing himself, "a number of
crimes were committed in and around Oakdale last night. We are searching
for clews to the perpetrators, some of whom must still be in the
neighborhood. Have you seen any strange or suspicious characters around
lately?"

"I should say we hed," exclaimed Jeb emphatically.

"I seen the wo'st lookin' gang o' bums come outen my hay barn this
mornin' thet I ever seed in my life. They must o' ben upward of a dozen
on 'em. They waz makin' fer the house when I steps in an' grabs my ol'
shot gun. I hollered at 'em not to come a step nigher 'n' I guess they
seed it wa'n't safe monkeyin' with me; so they skidaddled."

"Which way did they go?" asked Burton.

"Off down the road yonder; but I don't know which way they turned at the
crossin's, er ef they kept straight on toward Millsville."

Burton asked a number of questions in an effort to fix the identity of
some of the gang, warned Jeb to telephone him at Jonas Prim's if he saw
anything further of the strangers, and then retraced his steps toward
the car. Not once had Jeb mentioned the youth who had purchased supplies
from him that morning, and the reason was that Jeb had not considered
the young man of sufficient importance, having cataloged him mentally as
an unusually early specimen of the summer camper with which he was more
or less familiar.

Willie, on the contrary, realized the importance of their morning
customer, yet just how he was to cash in on his knowledge was not yet
entirely clear. He was already convinced that HOW TO BE A DETECTIVE
would help him not at all, and with the natural suspicion of ignorance
he feared to divulge his knowledge to the city detective for fear that
the latter would find the means to cheat him out of the princely reward
offered by the Oakdale village board. He thought of going at once to the
Squibbs' house and placing the desperate criminals under arrest; but
as fear throttled the idea in its infancy he cast about for some othe