“Ah!” said the colonel, “that accounts for it.  I never thought of that.”

“Tell us about it,” requested the judge.

“There isn’t very much to tell,” said Pepper, repeating the details of his trip, from the time of meeting the horse and wagon with Monkey Rae and the man.

“Of course,” muttered Jack, “you could bet Monkey would be in it somewhere.”

“S-s-say,” went on Pepper, “how did that fight come out?  I didn’t have time to stop and see.”

“I should think not,” observed the judge; “it was your busy day.”

“I think it must have been a draw,” answered the colonel, “for each went his own way.  But to return to our business.  You said, Judge, there was some talk about these boys; what is it?”

“Well, you know,” began the judge, “my office was broken into some time ago and some things taken.”

“You don’t think that these boys had anything to do with it, do you?” interrupted the colonel.

“Of course not,” the judge assured him; “but there were some boys’ tracks—­now let me go on—­and it has been said that these boys were out very early on that morning, and that they have been spending money pretty freely of late, buying uniforms and other things.”

“But we earned that money ourselves,” interrupted Pepper indignantly.

“Don’t get hot, Pepper,” counseled Donald.

“I don’t doubt it,” replied the judge; “and then it is reported that Randolph and Pepper claimed to have found money on the road.”

“I don’t know as you could call it money,” demurred Rand, showing the coin that he had found.  “I found this and Pepper found another.”

“Ah!” remarked the judge, taking the coin, “that looks like one of those stolen from me.  Where did you find it?”

“On the Mountain Road,” answered Rand.  “We did not know that they were yours, or we should have returned them.”

“I don’t know that they are mine,” said the judge, “although they are similar.  You had better keep them for the present.  So that is the way they went,” he mused; “they probably escaped in a boat.  I’m afraid there isn’t much chance of capturing them.  That is all, boys.  I just wanted to have a talk with you to straighten things out.”

“Where did all these stories come from?” asked the colonel.

“Oh, I think it is mostly boys’ talk,” said the judge.  “I think Tompkins said he heard it from his boy.”

“Sam Tompkins!” cried Jack, “of course.  He’s trying to throw suspicion on us, but I guess he knows a lot more about it than we do.”

“I think you have hit it, Jack,” agreed the judge.  “I believe that is a clue worth following up.”

“But what about the tools?” asked the officer.

“Oh, yes,” continued the judge, “I had forgotten about them.  Do you know anything about these tools, Dick?”

“Yes, sir; they came from our shop,” he answered.

“Ah! that’s what I thought,” said the officer to himself.  “It isn’t going to end here.”