. He employed this ruse now.

As the man stood, puzzled and scared, something brushed very
lightly,-even coquettishly,--against his knuckles. He started in
nervous fright. An instant later, the same thing brushed his knuckles
again, this time more insistently. The man, in a spurt of fear-driven
rage, grabbed at the invisible object. His fingers slipped along the
smooth sides of the bewitched bag that Lad was shoving invitingly at
him.

Brief as was the contact, it was long enough for the thief's sensitive
finger tips to recognize what they touched. And both hands were brought
suddenly into play, in a mad snatch for the prize. The ten avid fingers
missed the bag; and came together with clawing force. But, before they
met, the finger tips of the left hand telegraphed to the man's brain
that they had had momentary light experience with something hairy and
warm,--something that had slipped, eel-like, past them into the
night;--something that most assuredly was no satchel, but ALIVE!

The man's throat contracted, in gagging fright. And, as before, fear
scourged him to feverish rage.

Recklessly he pressed the flashlight's button; and swung the muffled
bar of light in every direction. In his other hand he leveled the
pistol he had drawn. This time the shaded ray revealed to him not only
his bag, but,--vaguely,--the Thing that held it.

He could not make out what manner of creature it was which gripped the
satchel's handle and whose eyes pulsed back greenish flares into the
torch's dim glow. But it was an animal of some kind;--distorted and
formless in the wavering finger of blunted light; but still an animal.
Not a ghost.

And fear departed. The intruder feared nothing mortal. The mystery in
part explained, he did not bother to puzzle out the remainder of it.
Impossible as it seemed, his bag was carried by some living thing. All
that remained for him was to capture the thing, and recover his bag.
The weak light still turned on, he gave chase.

Lad's spirits arose with a bound. His ruse had succeeded. He had
reawakened in this easily-discouraged chum a new interest in the game.
And he gamboled across the lawn, fairly wriggling with delight. He did
not wish to make his friend lose interest again. So instead of dashing
off at full speed, he frisked daintily, just out of reach of the
clawing hand.

And in this pleasant fashion the two playfellows covered a hundred
yards of ground. More than once, the man came within an