They were piled on the ground at the back of the tent, the corner of a yellow horse-blanket half covering them. Chub squirmed until his head and shoulders were inside the tent, and reached forward. Beyond the cans were two of the strips of bacon, wedged in between them and a bale of hay. Not a sound came from the tent. Noiselessly Chub drew the rest of his body inside and peered around the corner of the bale. The tent was empty. Three beds composed of narrow straw-filled ticks were in sight, a small old-fashioned trunk, cooking utensils, some clothes swinging from the ridge-pole, a couple of empty boxes on top of one of which lay a pack of dirty playing-cards and a pile of harness. Chub smiled his satisfaction and then pondered his next step. If the stolen groceries were here it was plausible to suppose that the money was here, too. Of course it might be in the thief’s pocket, but Chub didn’t believe that Gipsies were in the habit of carrying much money around with them. If only he knew where to look! The flap of the tent was open, and through the opening he could see the woman with the baby, and two of the children rolling about on the grass. If, he thought, he could only close the flap! Then he saw a way of accomplishing that result. By keeping close to the side of the tent on the right he would be out of sight of the Gipsies and could creep around and loosen the flap. So he dodged back behind the bale of hay to the farther wall of the tent, and crept along it until he could reach the flap. It fell into place, cutting off the shaft of hot sunlight that had flooded the front of the tent. As it fell, he dropped to the ground and peeked out under the bottom to see if it had been noticed. But, save that one of the men had got to his feet and was standing yawning and stretching, the inhabitants of the camp were much as he had seen them last. He waited and watched until the yawning man had stretched himself out in the shade and pillowed his face in his arms. [Illustration: Two men entered the tent] Then he began his search. As rapidly and as quietly as he could he began at one corner of the tent and worked around to it again, lifting blankets, boxes, beds, cooking-utensils, and whatever else he found. He searched the ticking of the mattresses for slits through which the money might have been thrust, and he tipped the bale of hay up and looked under it. But when he had completed the circuit of the tent he was forced to acknowledge defeat, for not a penny of money had he found. It was hot and stifling since he had closed the flap, and the perspiration was pouring from his face, when he finally paused nonplussed and sought about in vain for some hiding-place he had overlooked. At that moment footsteps sounded close beside the tent, shadows passed across the sloping canvas, and Chub’s heart jumped into his mouth. With a bound he reached the bale of hay and tumbled himself behind it just as the flap was lifted and two men entered the tent.