plendid physical condition, so that their
muscles were as firm as those of an athlete in training. To make
their way up that sloping board and reaching the open window was
likely to prove a mere bit of child's play with such fellows.

Hugh was the first to ascend. When he had raised himself so that he
could peep over the window ledge and see within the building he
apparently found the coast clear; for Thad, coming along just behind,
received a gentle prod with a toe, twice repeated, which he knew to
be a signal that all was well.

By the time Thad arrived the other was already well within the room,
having slipped across the window-sill without making the slightest
sound. All was dark around them, but further on they could see that
weird shaft of light moving this way and that, indicating the spot
where the unknown intruder just then happened to be located.

"He's making for the locker room, don't you see, Hugh?" Thad
ventured, with a perceptible quiver to his low voice.

"Sure thing, and he knows where he's going, in the bargain," the
other went on.

"Of course, it's no hobo, then," continued Thad. "That scamp knows
every foot of ground under this roof. You can see it by the way he
keeps straight on. Hugh, do you think it might be Nick Lang?"

After all, it was only natural for Thad to jump to this conclusion,
because of the evil reputation enjoyed by the boy he mentioned. Nick
Lang had been the bully and the terror of Scranton for years. There
was seldom a prank played (from stealing fruit from neighboring
farmers, to painting old Dobbin, a stray nag accustomed to feeding on
the open lots, so that the ordinarily white horse resembled the
National flag, and created no end of astonishment as he stalked
around, prancing at a lively rate when the hot sun began to start the
turpentine to burning), but that everybody at once suspected Nick of
being the conspirator.

Possibly he may not have always been the chief offender; but give Dog
Tray a bad name and he gets the blame of everything that happens
calculated to outrage the respectability of the law-abiding community.

"I thought of him at first," replied Hugh, "but it strikes me that
chap isn't of Nick's build. You see his light leaves his figure
pretty much in the dark; for he's using it principally to show him
the way, so he won't stumble over any chair, and make no end of a
row."

The two had been stealthily creeping forward all this while, and
were,