discretion, but I am
not the only guilty party. That boy is my confederate!"

"It is an outrageous falsehood!" burst out Fred indignantly.

"It is of no use your denying it. I am convinced that you have betrayed
me, and I will have no mercy on you. Gentlemen, arrest me if you think
best, but arrest him too. He is just as guilty as I am."

"You assert that he is your confederate?" said Lawrence.

"Yes."

"How long have you known him?"

"Ever since he was born. His mother was a cousin of mine," Palmer
asserted unblushingly.

"Do you believe this, Mr. Ferguson?" asked Fred, quite overwhelmed. "I
never saw this man till last evening."

"If he is your cousin, what is his name?" asked the detective, not
answering Fred's appeal.

"Fred Fenton," said Palmer coolly.

"He has got my name right, but he saw it in the hotel register," said
Fred.

"I presume you are right," said Ferguson.

"You seem interested in my young cousin," said Palmer with a malicious
sneer.

"Do you mean to say that he was with you in Elmira?" asked Lawrence.

"Yes; he stood outside to warn me if any one came along, who was likely
to interfere with me."

"And you both took the train for Niagara after the burglary was
effected?"

"Exactly."

Lawrence was staggered by the positive assertions of the culprit. It
must be considered that he was not acquainted with Fred, who, so far as
he knew, might be an artful young adventurer.

"Why didn't you take the boy over to the Canada side with you?"

"It was understood that he was to come over later in the day. We passed
for strangers at the Lynch House, and I thought it might excite
suspicion if we both went away together at so early an hour in the
morning."

"Mr. Palmer," said Fred warmly, "you know perfectly well that all these
statements are false, and that I never met you or had anything to do
with you till last evening."

"It won't do, Fred!" said the burglar. "You and I are in the same boat.
You are a boy, and will probably get a lighter sentence than I. But you
shouldn't go back on your old pal like this."

"Do you believe that man, Mr. Ferguson?" asked Fred with a troubled
look.

"No, but I shall be obliged to hold you till I produce him in court
to-morrow."

CHAPTER XVII.

TWO YOUNG LADY PASSENGERS AT ODDS.

Ferguson produced a pair of handcuffs and pinioned the wrists of his
captive. Palmer protested against the humiliation, but Ferguson said
quietly: "You are too