into the main street and into the public parking lot. The
Whiteside _Morning Record_ was in the heart of town, only a block
away. Next to the parking lot was a hardware store where Rick planned
to buy batteries, and diagonally across the street was the Sports
Center. Nothing in Whiteside was far from anything else; it was a
typical small town.

It took only a moment to buy a box of batteries; they were the type
used in hearing aids. Then the boys crossed the street to the Sports
Center. Extra mouthpieces for the lungs were in stock. They chose one
that seemed softer and smaller than the regulation models, then
started for the newspaper.

Two doors away from the Sports Center was the town's only barbershop.
As they passed, Scotty suddenly grabbed Rick's arm and said hurriedly,
"Come back!" Quickly he led the way out of sight of the barbershop
windows.

Rick looked at him curiously. "See something?"

Scotty's forehead wrinkled. "I think so. But it's so unlikely that I'm
not sure. Rick, I thought I saw the barber from Washington--the one
with the massage machine!"

[Illustration: _Rick focused the monocular on the barbershop_]

Rick's mouth opened in astonishment. "You're kidding!"

Scotty shook his head. "I'm not. I said I wasn't sure. But I don't
want to stand in front and look, because if it is the barber, he'd
recognize us."

Rick thought quickly. "Come on."

Back inside the Sports Center, he went to the manager and borrowed a
powerful monocular--a pocket telescope that was really one half of a
pair of binoculars. Then he and Scotty went across the street, taking
care to keep out of sight of the barbershop by using parked cars as
cover.

Rick found a vantage point behind a sedan that had all its windows
open. He focused the monocular on the barbershop window.

Vince Lardner, the shop owner and--until now--the sole barber, was
cutting the hair of a man Rick recognized as a local resident. A
second barber was cutting the hair of another local man, but the
barber had his back to the street for the moment.

Rick waited patiently. Scotty asked, "See anything?"

"Only his back. Wait a minute."

Presently the barber spun the chair around and walked to the sink. In
a moment he turned and his face came into view in the tight close-up
the powerful glass provided.

Rick sank his teeth into his lip and handed the glass to Scotty
wordlessly.

The pieces were beginning to fall in place now, and the assumption