o you suppose did it?" questioned Randy.

"Don't ask me, Randy. I'd hate to suspect any of the fellows."

"Oh, I don't think any of the fellows did it!" burst out Fred.

"Well, what about the hired help?" questioned Andy.

"I don't know any of them that I'd suspect," said Jack promptly. "Every
one looks like a pretty good sort."

Only two cadets came forward with objects that might possibly be a clue
to the robbery. One boy had picked up a handkerchief in his room that he
said did not belong to him, and another boy had found the marks of muddy
footprints over his window sill and on a fire-escape outside.

"Say, that looks as if somebody had come up the fire-escape and got into
the rooms that way," said Jack, when he heard of this.

"They say the handkerchief that was picked up is not marked in any way,"
said Gif.

"Well, every handkerchief used by the cadets is marked," returned
Spouter. "They've got to be that way or they'd get all mixed up in the
laundry."

"How about the help?"

"Their stuff is all marked, too. One of the teachers told me so," put in
Dan Soppinger.

"Say, Ned! you came upstairs for your mandolin," cried Jack suddenly.
"Did you see anybody up here?"

"I don't remember that I did," answered Ned Lowe. "I was in such a hurry
to get the instrument that I didn't pay much attention. And, besides
that, it seemed pretty dark in here after coming away from that big
bonfire."

"A robber would be sure to keep out of Ned's sight," put in Fred.

"I remember seeing some fellows in the lower hall--Major Mason, Bart
White, and one or two others. But I can't seem to remember seeing anybody
upstairs--and yet, somehow or other, it seems to me I did pass somebody
just before I ran into my room," and now Ned looked perplexed.

"Can't you think who it was?" questioned Andy quickly.

"No, I can't."

"If it was a stranger you would have remembered, wouldn't you?" asked
Jack.

"I think I would, Jack. I'd think right away what that person was doing
upstairs." Ned scratched his head. "No, if I did meet somebody, I'm sure
it must have been one of the cadets. But who it was, I can't think."

A little later Colonel Colby continued his investigation by asking all
those who had been inside the building during the celebration to come
forward and tell anything they could that might be of advantage. It
developed that not only Ned but also Ralph Mason, Bart White and two of
the older cadets named Lawrence and Phi