lligence among them to determine that dynamite had caused
it and dug this gaping hole in the stony soil. Bob West glanced at the
printing office, which was directly in line with the explosion; then he
cast a shrewd look into the white face of Thursday Smith; but the old
hardware merchant merely muttered under his breath something about Ojoy
Boglin and shook his head determinedly when questioned by his fellow
villagers.

Interest presently centered in the damage that had been done. Many
window panes were shattered and the kitchen chimney of the hotel had
toppled over; but no person had been injured and the damage could easily
be repaired. While the excitement was at its height Thursday Smith
returned to his room and went to bed; but long after the villagers had
calmed down sufficiently to seek their homes Hetty Hewitt sat alone by
the great pit, staring reflectively into its ragged depths. Quaint and
curious were the thoughts that puzzled the solitary girl's weary brain,
but prominent and ever-recurring was the sentence that had trembled upon
Thursday Smith's lips: "It was a close call, _dear_!"

The "close call" didn't worry Hetty a particle; it was the last word of
the sentence that amazed her. That, and a new and wonderful respect for
the manliness of Thursday Smith, filled her heart to overflowing.

CHAPTER XV

A CLEVER IDEA

Neither Thursday nor Hetty allowed a word to escape concerning the
placing of the bomb in the _Tribune_ office, but the explosion was
public knowledge and many were bothering their heads to explain its
meaning.

John Merrick, when he heard the news, looked very grave and glanced
uneasily into the unconscious faces of his three beloved nieces. A man
of much worldly experience, in spite of his simple, ingenuous nature,
the little man began carefully piecing together parts of the puzzle.
Thursday Smith's defense of the girl journalists, whereby he had
severely pounded some of the workmen who had insulted them, had caused
the man to be denounced by the colony at Royal. Mr. Skeelty, the
manager, had demanded that Smith be discharged by Mr. Mirrick, and
being refused, had threatened to shut off the power from the newspaper
plant. Skeelty dared not carry out this threat, for fear of a lawsuit,
but his men, who had urged the matter of Smith's discharge upon their
manager, were of the class that seeks revenge at any cost. At this
juncture Ojoy Boglin, Skeelty's partner and the owner of all