the idea
that Hank and his three reckless cronies must have had a hand in that
outrage.

That Hank guessed what was flitting through the other's mind was
plainly indicated by the haste with which he cried out:

"Don't git it in your head we had anything to do with that fire, Paul,
nor yet with tappin' the old man's safe. I know we ain't got any too
good reputations 'round Stanhope, but it's to be hoped we ain't
dropped so low as that. Skip along, Bud, an' tell what you saw."

"Why, it's this way," continued the narrator, eagerly. "I chanced to
be Johnny-on-the-spot that night, being 'mong the first to arrive when
old Briggs started to scream that his store was afire. Never mind how
it came that way. And Paul, I saw two figures a-runnin' away right
when I came up, runnin' like they might be afraid o' bein' seen an'
grabbed."

"Were they close enough for you to notice who they were?" asked Paul,
taking a deep interest in the narration, since he and his chums had
been accused of doing the deed in the presence of many of Stanhope's
good people.

"Oh! I saw 'em lookin' back as they hurried away," admitted Bud. "And,
Paul, they were those same two tramps we had the trouble with that
day. You remember we ran the pair out o' town, bombardin' 'em with
rocks."

Paul could plainly see the happening in his memory, with the two
hoboes turning when at a safe distance to shake their fists at the
boys. Evidently their rough reception all around had caused them to
have a bitter feeling toward the citizens of Stanhope, and they had
come back later on to have their revenge.

"Now that I think of it," Paul went on to say, "they had just come
out of the store when you ran afoul of the pair. The chances are that
Mr. Briggs treated them as sourly as he does all their class, and they
were furiously mad at him."

"Yes," added Bobolink, "and while in there they must have noticed
where he had his safe. Maybe they saw him putting money in it."

"I'm glad you told me this, Bud," the scout-master confessed, "because
it goes part way to clear up the mystery of that fire and robbery."

"Bud was meanin' to tell all about it when we got back," said Hank.
"He kept still because he heard Briggs accuse you scouts of the fire
racket, and Bud just then thought it too good a joke to spoil. But
we've been talkin' it over, and come to the conclusion we owed it to
the community to set 'em right."

This sounded rather lofty, but Paul guessed that t