mistake, or because it was dark."

"You mean he went there purposely?"

"I sure do."

"What for?" and Tom gazed curiously at his chum.

"That's what I've got to find out. He had some object, and I shouldn't
be surprised but what it was you, Tom."

"Me?"

"Yes. He hasn't succeeded in driving you out of the Hall as he hoped,
and now he's up to some more mean tricks."

Tom shook his head. He had a curious disbelief in Sam's guilt.

"Go ahead on that line if you like, Jack," he said. "But I can't agree
with you. I'm going to follow my bottle clew to-morrow, and nothing
the others could say would make Tom admit that Sam had a hand in
poisoning the horses, or in setting the hay on fire.

"But look how ready he was to accuse you," insisted Bert.

"That was only to clear himself," said Tom. "The fact of his sweater
being like mine was a strange coincidence, and he had to say something."

"He was ready enough to accuse you," put in Jack. "Say, Tom, old man,
why don't you come out and tell us where you went that night--and why?
Tell us what you did--how your sweater got away from you, and was found
on the farm. Go ahead!"

"Do!" urged Bert.

But Tom shook his head.

"I can't--not yet," he said. "I promised Ray------"

He stopped suddenly. His chums leaned forward eagerly.

"Well, I can't say any more," he finished. "Now let's forget all this,
and have a game of chess, somebody. It will make me sleep good."

"I'm going to cut," said George. "You fellows can play."

Tom and Jack sat down to the royal game, while Bert got out a book, and
for a time silence reigned in the apartment.

Tom made an early trip to town the next day. He went directly to the
drugstore, the torn label of which was on the bottle he had found to
contain a trace of poison.

Without going into details, but announcing who he was, he asked if the
druggist could give him any information as to who had bought the
cyanide.

"Well, I can look at my records," said the pharmacist. "I keep a list
of all persons to whom I sell poison, and make them sign a receipt for
it. Of course I have no means of knowing that the names are true ones.
There are some poisons I sell only on a doctor's prescription, but it
is not against the local law to dispense cyanide, and it has many
legitimate uses. I'll look it up for you."

He disappeared behind his ground-glass partition, to return presently,
announcing:

"My clerk made that sale. He'