d glided swiftly into the hall, now more than quarter filled with
snow, which the sharp wind had driven in.

"Certainly a cheerless place," he thought. "But I suppose they thought
no one would come here, and so they would be free from interruption."

He entered the parlor of the house, and then walked through to the
dining-room, the library, and then the kitchen. Nothing was disturbed,
and the smooth snow, wherever it had drifted in, did not show the first
sign of a footstep.

"Good! I am in plenty of time," said Hal to himself. "I must tramp
around a bit, and then bind myself up as best I can."

He waved his handkerchief out of one of the windows and then proceeded
to tie his feet together.

He had just finished the work, when Horace Sumner and two officers
rushed in.

"They are coming!" exclaimed the old broker. "There are Allen, Hardwick,
and two strangers."

"The strangers must be Parsons and Samuels," said Hal. "Here, bind my
hands, and shove me into the closet, and then hide."

This was done, and less than a minute later a stamping was heard, and
Allen, Hardwick, Parsons, and Samuels entered the parlor.

"Hullo, Macklin, where are you?" cried Hardwick.

Of course, there was no reply.

"Must have gone off to get his breakfast," said Allen. "Wonder what he
did with the boy?"

"Boy!" cried Hardwick. "Better say man. Carson is altogether too smart
to be called a boy."

"We must get him out of the way, and then finish this bond matter," went
on Allen.

"Yes, and hurry up," put in Samuels. "I want to catch, the twelve
o'clock train to Chicago, and you might as well give me the bonds to
take along. The sooner they are worked off the better."

"That's an easy matter to settle," said Hardwick. "I have the tin box
right here with me. I didn't dare leave it behind, for fear old Sumner
might get a search warrant and go through my house."

As the ex-book-keeper spoke, he unbuttoned his great coat, and brought
forth the missing tin box for which Hal and the others had been so long
searching.

CHAPTER XXXI.

HARDWICK'S DASH FOR LIBERTY.

Hal and the others listened with keen interest to Hardwick's words. The
ex-book-keeper had the missing railroad bonds with him, and he intended
to transfer them to Samuels, to be disposed of to the best advantage.

"Now is the time to capture the gang," thought Hal. "I wish my hands
were free."

"Let us see what has become of Carson first," said Allen, nervous