away? Get some of the club guys to
help. If that filter idea works there may be a lot of things we can do."

Art started for the door. "Sheer genius," he said admiringly. "That's
sheer genius, Boy!"

Ken smiled to himself. He wondered why they hadn't tried that when they
first had the hunch that comet dust could be responsible. Maybe they
could have saved some of the cars if they had rigged more efficient
filters on the air intakes.

His thoughts went back to the attack. He was still thinking about it
when his father and Sheriff Johnson returned.

"We took your word, Son," the Sheriff said, chagrined. "We got a warrant
and searched the Tucker and Allen premises from top to bottom. We went
out to Tucker's farm and went through the barns and the house. They've
got a 2-day supply of rations just like everybody else.

"They screamed their heads off and threatened suit for slander and false
arrest and everything else in the books."

"I'll get hold of Jed Tucker when I get out of here," said Ken. "He'll
talk when I get through with him!"

"Don't get yourself in a worse jam than you've stirred up already.
Unless you can prove what you say, you'll just have to forget it and
keep quiet."

Ken smiled suddenly. "It just occurred to me--when a banker wants to
keep something safe, where does he put it?"

"In the bank, of course," said the Sheriff. "Wait a minute, you don't
think...."

"Why not? The bank isn't doing business any more. Tucker is the only
one, probably, who has any excuse to go down there. As long as things
are the way they are, nobody else is going to get inside the vault--or
even inside the building."

Professor Maddox and the Sheriff looked at each other. "It's a logical
idea," said Ken's father.

"It's as crazy as the rest of it! We've made fools of ourselves already
so we might as well finish the job!"

* * * * *

When breakfast was served the next morning, Ken found out his hunch had
been right. He heard it from Miss Haskins the nurse and knew, therefore,
that it must be all over town.

The nurse was wide-eyed. "What do you think?" she said, as she set out
the bowl of oatmeal. "The Sheriff found that Mr. Tucker had filled his
bank vault with food. He'd stolen it from the warehouse. The Sheriff's
men obtained a warrant and forced Tucker to open the vault, and there
were cases of canned goods stacked clear to the ceiling!"

"He must have been afraid of getting hu