n. It would not do to tell them he had dropped it
somewhere along the road without noticing the accident. A boy might lose
his pocketknife (I know of a youngster who lost a wheelbarrow and never
found it again), but a double barreled shotgun manifestly could not
disappear in that fashion so much out of the ordinary way of things.

"I think I'll have a look at the post office and larn what mischief the
villain done there."

He veered in his course and came to the back window, where a light showed
that some persons were gathered. He found mother, daughter and the three
boys, who gave him warm greeting.

"Was that your gun we heard a little while ago?" asked the woman.

"I reckon it must have been," replied Mr. Buxton, who declined the
invitation to enter and remained standing outside the window.

"Did you hit the burglar?" asked Alvin.

"Young man," said Mr. Buxton loftily, "when I fire at anything I _always_
hit it."

"You didn't kill him, Gerald!" exclaimed the horrified mother.

"No; I just winged him so he won't forget it if he lives a thousand
years; don't like to kill a scamp even if he is a burglar."

"Where's your gun?" continued Alvin.

The man glanced around as if it were hidden somewhere about his garments.

"Now isn't that a fine go?" he exclaimed disgustedly. "I set it down
while I went forward to see how bad that feller was hit, and plumb
forgot."

"O dad, here's your gun!"

It was the son Jim who called this greeting as he straddled forward with
the heavy piece resting on his shoulder. All stared in amazement, and the
father in his confusion was imprudent enough to ask:

"Where did you get it?"

"I seen that feller that took it away from you and made you dance all the
way across the field. He throwed it down and went into the woods. When I
seen you hopping and dancing and kicking up your heels I nearly died
a-larfing. But I didn't forgit the gun, and run along the edge of the
woods and picked it up. Gee! it's heavy! But, dad, I didn't know you
could dance like that. Say----"

"You young rascal, didn't I tell you to stay home? I'll larn you!"

The parent made a dive at his son, who, with the gun still over his
shoulder, scooted across the yard and over the fence, with his irate
father in fierce pursuit.

CHAPTER XXI

HOW IT WAS DONE

The attempt to rob the safe in the Beartown post office was accompanied
by more than one unique incident. Chief among these was the cowardice
e