"Wow! A story this time of night!" murmured Buster. "I'm going to bed." "This is a short one," pleaded the would-be story-teller. "A man was giving a celebration one Fourth of July to a lot of children. He had ordered a lot of firecrackers, but they didn't come. So he sent a telegram to the wholesale house in the city. 'Send big and little crackers as ordered at once.' About an hour afterwards he got a return telegram which said, 'Our grocery department is closed to-day. Your order for crackers will be filled to-morrow.'" "Call that a crackerjack joke?" asked Roger, with a grin. "Don't crack any more like that, Shadow," added Dave. "You might get fired if you do," contributed Phil; and then a general laugh went up, after which all of the boys again retired. In the morning the lads inspected the vicinity of the fire once more, and spent some time in shooting off a pistol and a shotgun which Roger possessed. Then, acting on a suggestion from Dave, they took a walk to the railroad station. Here an interesting bit of news awaited them, which was to the effect that, owing to some trouble with a bridge about a mile outside of Hemson, two passenger trains and a freight had been held up at the station for several hours. "Most of the passengers remained in the trains," said the station agent. "But some of 'em got restless and they went over to the hotel, and some walked down to where the bridge was being repaired." "Did you notice two people in particular?" asked Roger, and described Merwell and Job Haskers as well as he could. "No, I don't remember seeing those fellows," said the agent. From the railroad station the boys went to the hotel, and then walked along the country road leading to the Morr place. Presently they met a man driving a milk wagon. "Say, you had a fire last night, didn't you?" asked the driver of Roger, as he reined up. "Yes, Mr. Platt," answered the senator's son. "But it didn't amount to anything." "How did it catch, do you know?" went on the driver of the milk wagon, curiously. "No, we are trying to find out." "Maybe it was set. I see two fellers sneakin' around your place last evening," went on Mr. Platt. CHAPTER IX WHAT NAT POOLE HAD TO TELL "You saw two fellows sneaking around our place last evening?" cried Roger, with interest. "I certainly did." "What did they look like?" asked Dave. "I see 'em plainly an' I was wonderin' what they was up to," said the driver of the milk wagon, and then he described the two persons quite minutely. "Haskers and Merwell, beyond a doubt!" exclaimed Phil. "Now what do you know about that!" "It certainly is the limit!" murmured Luke. "Wonder if they are still around?" came from Shadow. "Say, this puts me in mind of a sto----But never mind, I'll tell it another time," he broke off, hastily, as he saw a look of disgust on the others' faces. "I don't believe they are around," said Dave. "They probably boarded the first train that went over the bridge."