ose a copy of that receipt as you possibly can!"

"Whew! do you mean even to signing Mr. Culpepper's name at the end?"
asked Carl, whose breath had very nearly been taken away.

"Yes, even to that," he was told; "in fact the paper wouldn't be worth
a pinch of salt in my little game if that signature were omitted. Do
you think you could duplicate the receipt, Carl?"

"I am sure I could; but even now I'm groping in the dark, because for
the life of me I can't see what you expect to do with it, Tom."

"Don't forget to crease it, to make it look as though it had been
folded and opened ever so many times; yes, and soil the outside a
little too, as if it had been carried in a boy's pocket along with a
lot of other things like marbles or a top or something like that."

"But please explain what all this means," Carl pleaded.

"Listen!" replied the other, impressively, "and I'll tell you what my
game is. It may work, and it may fall flat; a whole lot depends on
circumstances, but there's no harm trying it out."

"Of course not; go on and tell me."

"In watching Dock when he didn't know it, we've learned considerable
about his habits," continued Tom. "For one thing every single night he
walks home along the river road here after delivering a package or two
at certain houses. It seems to be a part of the programme. Well, some
fine night we'll lie in wait for him about this spot; and on the road
will be that duplicate of the paper which we believe he stole."

At that Carl became quite excited.

"Oh! now I see what your game it!" he cried; "and let me tell you I
think it's as clever a trick as could be thought of. He'll pick up the
paper, thinking it may be something worth while; and when he sees that
it is the very receipt he thinks he has got safely hidden away
somewhere, Dock will be so rattled that the first thing he does will be
to hurry to find out whether it's been taken or not."

"That's the idea, Carl; and of course we'll follow him, so as to jump
in the very minute he gets out the real document to compare them."

"Fine! fine, Tom! You are certainly the crackerjack when it comes to
laying a trap to trip a scamp up. Why, he'll fall into that pit head
over heels; and I do hope we can snatch the paper away from him before
he has a chance to tear it up."

"We'll look out for that all right, you can depend on it," came the
reassuring remark from the other scout. "When will you get busy on that
copy, Carl?"

"To-n