had ceased popping before this,
and when the two lads and their helpers had reached the shop, there was
no one in sight.

"The camera's there all right!" cried Tom in relief as he picked it up
from the box. "Now to see what it caught. Did you see anything of the
fellows, Koku, or Eradicate?" Both said they had not, but Eradicate,
after examining the chicken house door by the aid of a lighted match,
cried out:

"Somebody's been tryin' t' git in heah, Massa Tom. I kin see where de
do's been scratched."

"Well, maybe we'll have the picture for you to look at in the morning,"
said Tom.

The films were developed in the usual way in the morning, but the
pictures were so small that Tom could not make out the features or
forms of the men. And it was plain that at least three men had been
around the coop and shop.

By the use of alcohol and an electric fan Tom soon had the films dry
enough to use. Then the moving picture machine was set up in a dark
room, and all gathered to see what would be thrown on the screen,
greatly enlarged.

First came several brilliant flashes of light, and then, as the
entrance to the shop loomed into view, a dark figure seemed to walk
across the canvas. But it did not stop at the shop door. Instead it
went to the chicken coop, and, as the man reached that door, he began
working to get it open. Of course it had all taken place in a few
seconds, for, as soon as the flashlights went off, the intruders had
run away. But they had been there long enough to have their pictures
taken.

The man at the chicken coop turned around as the lights flashed, and he
was looking squarely at the camera. Of course this made his face very
plain to the audience, as Tom turned the crank of the reproducing
machine.

"Why, it's a colored man!" cried Ned in surprise.

"Yes, I guess it's only an ordinary chicken thief, after all," remarked
Tom.

There was a gasp from Eradicate.

"Fo' de land sakes!" he cried. "De raskil! Ef dat ain't mah own second
cousin, what libs down by de ribber! An' to t'ink dat Samuel 'Rastus
Washington Jackson Johnson, mah own second cousin, should try t' rob
mah chicken coop! Oh, won't I gib it t' him!"

"Are you sure, Rad?" asked Tom.

"Suah? Sartin I'se suah, Massa Tom," was the answer as the startled
colored man on the screen stared at the small audience. "I'd know dat
face ob his'n anywhere."

"Well, I guess he's the only one we caught last night," said Tom, as
the disappoint