“Good evening, Colonel; good evening, boys,” said the judge, greeting them pleasantly when they came in under the escort of the officer.  “I am glad to see you.  Is this an official visit?”

“Good evening, Judge,” replied Rand.  “I suppose it must be.  The officer said I was under arrest.”

“Gracious, no!  Not at all,” said the judge.  “That was a blunder, indeed.  I merely told him I wanted to see you.  I wanted to see if you could throw any light on the robbing of my office.”

“Have you any reason to think that they know anything about it?” demanded the colonel indignantly.

“No sufficient reason,” replied the judge.  “Now, don’t get excited,” as the colonel was about to speak, “but there has been a lot of loose talk circulating, and I thought I would like to settle it.”

“Loose talk!” exclaimed the colonel; “about whom?”

“About Randolph, Dick Wilson and young Blake,” explained the judge; “and, by the way, where is Pepper?  I don’t see him here.”

“We don’t know where he is,” replied Jack.  “We have been hunting for him all the afternoon, but we couldn’t find him.”

“How is that?” questioned the judge.

Whereupon the story of the unavailing search was told.

“That is certainly remarkable,” admitted the judge.  “Perhaps we had better put this matter off until we see if we can’t find him.  Have you any plans, Colonel?”

“No,” replied the colonel, forgetting his anger over the blundering arrest.  “I am at a complete loss how to proceed.  If the ground had opened and swallowed him he could not have disappeared more suddenly and more completely.”

“We shall certainly have to start another search.  The question is where to begin,” mused the judge, and just then, catching sight of Officer Dugan, his mind reverting to the latter’s inexcusable blunder, he gave the chagrined minion of the law a severe reprimand.  How far the angry judge might have proceeded is not known, for just at this moment Pepper appeared in the doorway.

“Pepper!” cried Jack.  “Where in the world have you been?”

“Where in the world haven’t I been?” he responded.

“You evidently found yourself,” asserted the colonel.

“Is it really you, Pepper?” asked Gerald; “and where did you hide yourself?” and other questions came thick and fast.

“Just returned from delivery of the message to the Highpoint Scouts,” finally answered the boy when he was afforded an opportunity to speak.

“Highpoint!  Why, we went to Highpoint!” cried Rand, “and you had not been there.  Which way did you go?”

“Don’t know,” replied the messenger.  “Round by Robin Hood’s barn, I guess; but I came out on the side of the cliff, and the Highpoints fortunately found me.”

“But how did you get out of the tree?” asked the colonel.  “We couldn’t find any trail.”

“Did you know I was up a tree?  Well, I climbed into the next tree,” was the reply.