“A mean revenge, but I wouldn’t put it past a thief who was boiling mad because three Boy Scouts had managed to get the better of him,” Andy declared, with considerable emphasis, which looked as though he rather favored the theory advanced by the scout leader.
“Whee! I hope this thing isn’t as catching as the measles,” ventured Tubby. “You know, I’ve gone and paid out some good money for several things that caught my eye in the booths at the Exposition; and I’d hate to have some one get away with them during my absence.”
“Oh, small chance of that happening, Tubby! And if you’re afraid to stay alone to-night, why, I’ll go over with you to get your bag, and come on here,” Andy told the anxious one.
Perhaps Tubby was at first sorely tempted to accept that offer; but then he chanced to catch a gleam of amusement on Hiram’s face. That settled the matter. Pride stepped in and took the reins.
“Oh, never mind about that, Andy!” he hastened to say. “It’s very kind of you to offer me help, but I think I had better wait until morning. I’ll be around early and take breakfast with the bunch, remember. What time do you eat?”
Hiram and Andy allowed Rob to settle that for them.
“Call it eight o’clock, then. We’ll wait that long for you, Tubby,” the scout leader said.
“I’ll be on the move by seven, and as I expect to pack my bag to-night before turning in, it isn’t going to take me long to finish.”
Tubby got up as though he knew he ought to be going; but apparently he hated to part from his chums. They had been together so much of recent years that they were as thick as peas in a pod.
Rob somehow did not seem to be altogether satisfied with the result of his first examination of the room; he was heard moving around in the second apartment. When he joined the rest again, Andy, who must have guessed what he had been about, began to question Rob.
“Find anything to give the game away in there, Rob?” he asked.
“Well, no, not that I could see,” the scout leader replied. “The door, as you may remember, is locked, and the key at the office, where we haven’t bothered taking it out. Besides, when we left this morning I shot the bolt home, so that no thief could have entered by that door; and certainly no one left the room that way, or the bolt would not be in the socket as it is.”