“Who’s good?” demanded Pant. “Didn’t he teach me sense when I didn’t know anything but cats? Didn’t he carry me out of the jungle on his back when no one else dared to go in?”

For a time they were silent. Then, gripping Johnny’s arm, Pant whispered: “But, Johnny, we’re after worse cats than the black one. We’re after human tigers. Tigers that destroy man’s faith in man; that make life little worth the living. And, Johnny, we’re on their trail, close on their trail. Perhaps to-morrow, perhaps the day after, you shall see—well, you shall see what you shall see.”

CHAPTER XIV IN TOM STICK’S HOUSE

That same night, by the dull glow of a half burned out camp fire on the bank of a river, Pant told Johnny of his plans as a Secret Service man on a big case, and how they had worked out thus far.

“You remember the crimson flash in the animal tent, and how it frightened a lot of the colored boys into jumping their jobs?” he chuckled. “Well, that helped me, helped me a lot; for you see some of the boys that quit were working for this bunch of counterfeiters that has Black McCree as its head. Some of the boys that were hired were already getting pay from Uncle Sam for helping me. Some of them now are getting triple pay, once from the circus, once from me and once from the counterfeiters. See how it works?”

Pant chuckled again.

“These boys with the three pay checks have helped me a lot, but not enough. They can’t get back far enough. They know only the men who pass the bonds on to them, and those men are just helpers like themselves. They pass the goods on, but the real man is still back in the shadows; too far back for me to see him. He’s the man I want; the man and his outfit; and let me tell you, Johnny, that’s some outfit. There’s never been anything like it before. It’s a danger. Where and when they operate is more than I know. They could hardly do it in one of the tents. They might do it in one of the cars, and it might be Tom, the midget clown, doing it in his house on wheels.”

“I’ve talked with him,” said Johnny quickly. “I don’t believe he’s in on it.”

“Don’t be too sure. Take no chances. If he’s especially friendly, that may mean that he is onto the fact that you’re working with me and that I’m after them. A bunch like that would stab you in the back in a second.”

For a few minutes there was silence, then Pant continued: “We are making some progress. We know about how much 

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