river of the car, losing his bravado
completely. "Well, I might as well admit we did run a man down. But we
didn't think he was badly hurt and so we put on all speed to rush into
town here and get a doctor for him. We'd have been here sooner only
one of our tires punctured."

"Thet's a dern good story," said the chief, "but you'll hev ter
'splain that ter ther squire. Come on with me ter ther court-house.
Too bad fer you thet them Chadwick boys had some sort of a do-funny
dingus on their sky buggy that talks through the air, otherwise you'd
hev got clar' away."

The man had, by this time, got out of the car which they halted at the
side of the street. A crowd of curious villagers gathered and were
staring at the scene and the actors in it.

At Chief Biff's words the driver of the red car flashed an angry look
at the boys. His companions looked equally vindictive.

"So, it's to you we owe our arrest, is it?" he said in a low voice,
coming quite close to Jack. "All right. You'll hear from me later. I'm
not going to forget you or that other kid, either. Do you understand?"

Jack made no reply, and as he was anxious to get the injured man to
the hospital as quickly as possible he drove off. At the institution
the man was carried to a cot by two orderlies, and the doctor in
charge told the boys that, so far as he could see, his injuries were
not mortal, although he added that a fracture of the skull was
possible.

"In which case," he said, "his recovery is problematical. How did you
happen to pick him up?" asked the doctor, who knew the boys quite
well.

Jack told him as briefly as he could, and received the physician's
warm congratulations.

"It was fortunate that you happened along," he said. "Otherwise a
long exposure to the sun, unattended, might have resulted in the man's
death. Have you any idea who he is?"

"Not the least," replied Jack. "All that we know is that, just after
he had plodded round the corner as if he was tired after walking a
long way, that auto came whizzing round and struck him. Somehow he
doesn't look like a tramp."

"No, he doesn't," agreed the doctor. "However, he should be conscious
to-morrow if there are no complications, and we can find out. One
thing is certain, he ought to be grateful to you."

"Oh, that's all right," laughed Jack, much relieved to hear that the
man wasn't going to die. "It was all we could do."

They drove back through the village. Outside the court-house was