m."

"But he may be found in time!" declared Corney Shays, who had listened
to all this talk with bated breath, and wide open eyes.

"He will, if a pack of hounds like the boys of Riverport school are
worth their salt!" avowed Bristles.

"That has the right sort of ring to it," remarked the judge, with
kindling eyes. "And in order to induce men, as well as boys, to take
part in the hunt for your missing comrade, I'm going to offer a reward
of one hundred dollars for his return inside of twenty-four hours,
uninjured. I'll have half a dozen cards posted in the public places of
the town, so that every person will know of my offer."

"Hurrah for the judge!" burst out the impetuous Corney.

"Then the sooner we get to work, fellows," said Fred, impressively, "the
better."

"Yes, spread the news as fast as you can," observed the judge; "tell it
to that crowd of boys outside the fence, and get them to scatter with it
all over town. Scour the whole territory, looking in every barn and
woodshed to see whether they may have kept him a prisoner there. Boys
sometimes can be more or less thoughtless, and even cruel when engaged
in what they term sport. As the old saying has it, 'this is often fun
for the boy, but death to the frog.' Be off, boys; and success to you!"

Apparently the judge was not quite so much concerned as before Fred had
made his suggestion. The unpleasant idea of lawless tramps having
caught Colon, to hold him for ransom, had begun to lose plausibility in
the mind of the reasoning lawyer.

"Come along, fellows!" cried Bristles, who scented the pleasures of
action, with something of the delight that an old war-horse does the
smoke of battle.

They hurried out of the house, leaving to the judge the task of
explaining to Mrs. Colon how the situation had improved.

There was an immediate scattering of the clans. Boys ran this way and
that, telling the astonishing news to every one they met. Housewives
stood in doorways and anxiously inquired as to the very latest theory to
account for the mysterious disappearance of a Riverport lad. Such a
thing had never happened before, save when little Rupert Whiting
wandered off in search of butterflies, and was found two days later,
living on the blueberries that grew so abundantly in the woods.

And when the latest suggestion, connected with the boys of
Mechanicsburg, began to be current it created no end of unfavorable
comment.

Meanwhile Fred and several of his c