he building was called
in.

"Sure, an' Mr. Dart has had the office only about a week," said the
janitor. "He hasn't paid the rent yet. He said he was in the habit of
payin' in the middle of the month."

"Then the owner of this building is out of pocket, too," said one of the
men from the West.

An examination was made of the desk used by the swindler, but nothing of
value was found. The letters and bills were of no consequence, and the
blank books were not worth twenty-five cents each.

"Let us go to the police station," said the men, and they went off,
followed by the sick man.

"This is the worst yet," remarked Nat, as he dropped into the one easy
chair of which the office boasted. "And I thought I was so smart. I'm a
regular greeny, if ever there was one!" And he shook his head bitterly.

"I'm in the same boat," responded his fellow victim. "My father will be
pretty mad when he hears of this. He lent me the money, and I assured
him it would be perfectly safe."

"I used my own money, but it was almost the last dollar I had," said our
hero, soberly. At that moment his heart felt like a lump of lead in his
bosom.

"What do you suppose we can do about it?"

"I'm sure I don't know."

"Do you know where this Hamilton Dart, alias Nick Smithers, lived?"

"No."

"To look for him in a big city like this will be like looking for a
needle in a haystack."

"More than likely he won't stay in this city. He may be miles away
already. He didn't want to see those men from Chicago."

They talked the matter over for an hour, at the end of which time a
detective from headquarters came to interview them. The detective took
charge of the office, and that seemed to be the end of the affair.

"Give me your addresses," said the detective to Nat and his fellow
clerk. "If we hear anything we will let you know," and so it was
arranged.

Nat felt very much downcast when he arrived at his boarding house that
evening. Mrs. Talcott was not long in noticing it.

"You seem to be in trouble, Nat," said she kindly, for she had taken
quite a fancy to the country lad. "Can I help you in any way?"

"I don't know," he answered, bluntly. "I've gone and made a big fool of
myself."

"In what way?" asked she in astonishment.

"I thought I was smart, but I'm a regular country greeny. I let a man
swindle me out of nearly every dollar I possessed."

"That is certainly too bad, Nat. How did it happen?"

For answer our hero made a clean