ridge again,
without having touched the water. He had hardly come up into the
starlight when two men came rushing toward him from the road.

"Who's that?" cried one of the men.

"That must be the man!" cried the other, and Matt recognized Isaac
Marvelling's voice. "Catch hold of him, Jackson."

In another moment the two men stood beside Matt. As he recognized the
young auctioneer, Isaac Marvelling set up a cry of surprise and
triumph.

"I told you so!" he declared. "I said them auction fellows weren't no
better than thieves! This is the chap that broke in my store, Jackson,
I feel sure of it! I want him arrested, and you had better handcuff
him so that he can't get away from you! No wonder they can sell cheap,
when they steal their goods!"

CHAPTER XXI.

THE TELL-TALE CAP.

For the moment Matt could do little more than stare at the two men
that confronted him. In a dim way he realized that Isaac Marvelling's
store had been entered and robbed, and that the mean-minded
store-keeper fully believed that he was the guilty party.

"Are you a-holding him, Jackson?" went on Isaac Marvelling anxiously.
"Look out, or he may slip away from you."

"I've got him, right enough," returned Jackson, one of the local
constables. "He'll have hard work to get away."

"What does this mean?" demanded the young auctioneer, aroused at last
to the necessity of doing something in his own behalf. "Let go of
me!"

"Oh, no, not just yet!" returned Jackson. "You're wanted, and you know
it."

"That's right, Jackson, don't let him slip you!" put in Marvelling
eagerly. "He's a good talker, but don't let that count with you."

"Will you tell me what I am wanted for?" asked Matt.

"For entering his store and stealing a lot of cutlery and jewelry,"
returned the constable.

"Forty-five dollars' worth," added Marvelling. "And all new stock,
too! Oh, you thought you would get away with it mighty smart-like,
didn't you?" he sneered.

"I haven't been near your store, and I know nothing about the theft,"
was Matt's steady reply.

"But we saw you run away from the store and come down here, didn't we,
Jackson?"

"We certainly did," returned the constable, with a grave shake of his
head.

"You saw me?" gasped Matt, starting back.

"Exactly," said Isaac Marvelling. "I heard you run out of the yard
behind the store right after I had called in Jackson to tell him about
the robbery. We both saw you jump the fence and skip off in th