Grammar boy, Timmy was to be regarded only
with easygoing indifference. Yet a tale of woe quickly made Tom
Reade his young fellow citizen's instant ally.

"Aren't you out pretty late, Timmy, for a boy who isn't even a
regular high school freshman as yet?" inquired Reade, with another
smile. "It's almost nine-thirty, you know."

"Don't I know?" wailed Timmy Finbrink, with something of a shiver.
"It's getting later every minute, too, and I'm due for a trouncing
when I do go in, so what's the odds?"

"Who's going to give you that trouncing?" Tom demanded.

"My father," replied Timmy Finbrink.

"What have you been doing?"

"Pop told me to be upstairs and in bed by nine o'clock, without
fail," Timmy explained. "I came along just five minutes ago,
and found that pop has the house planted for me. I can't slip
in without his knowing it."

"Oho! So your father has the other members of the family stationed
where they can see you, whichever way you go into the house?"
asked Reade, with genuine interest in the unfortunate Timmy.

"Nope," explained Timmy, with another shiver. "Mother and sister
are away visiting, and pop is all alone in the house."

"But he can't watch both the front and back doors at the same
time," Reade suggested hopefully.

"Can't he do just that, though?" sputtered Timmy. "I've been
scouting on tip-toe around the house to get the lay of the land.
Pop is smoking his pipe, and has placed his chair so that he
can see both the back and the front doors, for he has the room
doors open right through. There isn't a ghost of a show to get
in without being seen---and pop has the strap on a chair beside
him!" finished Timmy, with an anticipatory shiver.

"Timmy, you're a fearfully slow boy," Tom drawled.

"What do you mean?"

"I can fix it so you can get into the house while your father
is doing something else," Tom declared.

"Can you? How? Ring the front door bell, while I slip in at
the back door?"

"Nothing as stale as that," scoffed Tom Reade. "That wouldn't
call for any brains, you see. Come along and we'll look over
the lay of the land. Cheer up, Timmy! You'll have plenty of
chance to slip into the house, get upstairs, undressed and be
in bed before your father has time to get over the surprise that's
coming to him."

"What are you going to-----" Timmy began breathlessly, but Tom
interrupted him with:

"Keep quiet, and be ready to follow orders fast."

As they gained the fron