I couldn't be certain, however, and I put it down to a trick that my eyes had played me." "Well, that's all right as far as it goes," burst out Rob.

"It probably was a light.

I wish you'd investigated." "Wait a minute, Rob," said his father, noting Hiram's anxious face.
"There's more to come, isn't there, Hiram ?" "You bet! The most exciting part of it--the most important, I mean," went on young Hiram, with an important air.
"Oh, well, get down to it," urged the impatient Rob.

"What was it ?" "Why, right after I'd seen the light," went on Hiram, "I thought I saw a dark figure slip around the corner into that dark street." "A dark figure! Hum! Sounds like one of those old yellow--back novels," remarked Mr.Blake, with a smile.
"But this was a figure I recognized, sir," exclaimed Hiram.

"It was Bill Bender!" "Jack Curtiss' chum! They're as thick as two thieves," burst out Merritt.
"And I believe they are two thieves," solemnly put in Rob.
"Well," went on Hiram, "the next minute Bill Bender came walking round the corner as fast as if he were coming from somewhere in a great hurry, and was hastening home.