ing so pitifully at him, that he didn't have
the heart to refuse a bone. So none of your lost coins have gone into his
till, Jack."

"Oh! that would have been the queerest thing ever, had he done it. But
now about the other clue you have--tell me about it, Paul," continued
the anxious one. Paul had seated himself where he could keep an eye down
the street in front of the house. And while his chum was talking he had
smiled as if he might have discovered something out there that pleased
him very much.

"Come right up to your den with me, Jack, and leave Carlo shut in here,"
he said, rising; "and when we get upstairs open the window to air the
room. Then I shall ask you to let me hide there behind something, while
you go downstairs, pass out, and along the street in plain view."

"Say, that's a mighty queer thing to do," ventured the other.

"It's all a part of my plan. You must leave the door of the den open too.
And Jack, after you get around the corner I want you to sneak back to the
rear of the house, and come up again, crawling into the den here, if
everything is quiet."

"Oh! all right, if you say so, Paul," Jack observed; "but you've sure got
me guessing to beat the band, right now. Here's the window open. Now
shall I get busy, and meander off?"

"Right away. Please carry it out just as I said. You ought to be back
here inside of six or seven minutes; and I guess that will be time enough
before the circus begins, Jack."

So the owner of the little den at the top of the house gave his chum one
last look of bewilderment, and turning, hastened down the stairs.

Paul, with a glance around, chose a certain corner for his hiding-place.
Here he could see without exposing himself to view; and squatting down he
prepared to await developments.

A minute later he got up, and moved an old screen partly across the
floor, so that it hid the open door. When Jack returned, he could crawl
alongside the hiding boy without showing himself to any one in the room,
or beyond the window.

Hardly had five minutes crept by when Paul heard a slight sound. It came
from the stairs, and he smiled, knowing that his chum had lost no time in
carrying out his part of the plot.

So Jack came sliding in, and was soon nestling down at Paul's side,
brimming over with curiosity, yet deterred from asking questions by the
fact that Paul had put up a warning finger.

Several more minutes passed by, when Jack was thrilled to see something
mov