Bouncer seemed to take the matter quite seriously. Bob did not tell about Miss Simmons and the letters, nor about thinking he saw the tramp at Silas Dolby’s house. He only said that he had met the tramp several times during the day, before he saw him with the man with the green shade over his eye.

His father went at once to the telephone and called up the village marshal. The next morning Bob learned that the officer had not been able to find the two tramps. They had probably left town.

Bob, Frank and Sammy the next day went over the route they had taken when they went to the Dolby place. They found the dog chained up, and even made a new search in the miser’s yard, but they did not find the lost store key.

That day, too, the story of Simple Mary was told about the school. Some Fairview ladies had gotten her a pleasant place to work on a farm. Miss Williams explained in open school about the broken ink bottle, and all Bob’s friends were made happy to see him cleared from a false charge.

The wind-up of the big bonfire had made “The Blues” and “The Grays” more at war than ever. About all it led to, however, was closer rivalry in baseball and football games.

Things started in smoothly at school. The daily routine[63] of study had the usual fun mixed in with it. There was nothing very new or exciting until the second Monday of the term.

[63]

Then, just before school commenced, as Bob, Frank and Sammy passed the house where Frank had stopped the runaway automobile, Sammy pointed towards it.

“Hello!” he cried. “Some one has moved into that place since Friday.”

“That’s so,” said Frank, noticing some big empty boxes on the porch, “and somebody is moving about there.”

“I wonder if it’s the fat boy’s father?” spoke Bob.

“I’ll bet it is,” said Sammy, as they walked on.

“Hi, hello! you fellows!” sounded a breathless voice, a minute later.

Tom Chubb came running out of the gate of the place the boys had just passed.

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