“W-w-why, t-t-that must be M-M-Monkey Rae’s father,” stammered Pepper when Jack had finished reading.  “I knew he was away somewhere, but I didn’t know he was in prison.”

“Shure, there’s lots of things ye don’t know, me darlint,” interjected Gerald.

“And he is the man who was with Monkey on the river,” added Rand.

“And the man that was in the boat the other day,” put in Dick.

“I hope they catch him!” said Pepper vindictively.

“Go for him, Pepper,” encouraged Gerald.

“And that is what Monkey stole the fish for,” continued Pepper.

“Of course it was,” replied Jack.  “Didn’t I tell you there was something back of this monkey business?”

“But I no see it yet,” remarked Donald.

“Of course you don’t,” said Jack.  “You want it explained with a diagram.  It was Rae who robbed Judge Taylor’s office, and Monkey and Sam Tompkins helped him.  He was hiding in the woods when we saw him.”

“But what has that got to do with the coins?” demanded Donald.

“Why, they stole them out of the judge’s office and lost them where Rand and Pepper found them.  I’ve been studying this thing out ever since the night we were in the judge’s office.  You see, there was suspicion of some of us and I wanted to clear it off.  It’s all as clear as day now.”

“Whin the fog’s so thick ye c’ud cut it with a knife,” put in Gerald.  “Give us a diagram av it.”

“Why, the robbery was done by Rae and some of his pals,” explained Jack.  “They sent Monkey up between the buildings and he opened the window and got in and then opened the doors for the others.  When they got through all they had to do was to walk out, and Monkey closed and fastened the doors after them and went down the same way as he got in.”

“But how do you know that Rae did it?” asked Rand.

“By putting two and two together,” replied Jack.  “I knew that the coins you found were like some that had been stolen.  Monkey Rae and Sam went over the road just before you found them.  They had not been lying there long, or they would have been covered up in the dirt, or some one else would have found them.”

“’Tis no way impossible,” admitted Donald.

“Then some of the tools they used had been taken from Wilson’s blacksmith shop, and you know Dick said that Monkey and Sam used to come in there almost every day, so that it was quite probable that they took them; that’s number two.”

“Go on,” urged Rand.  “It is growing interesting.”

“Well, there isn’t much more; but I saw, from this circular, that Rae had escaped from prison, so I concluded that the man we saw in the boat was Rae, and I put the two and two together and worked it out that it was he who robbed the judge’s office.”

“What was he after?” asked Pepper.

“I don’t know exactly,” replied Jack; “but it was papers of some kind.”

“Well, it does look as if you were right,” conceded Donald; “but you haven’t got any proof.”