“I guess they’re nothing but chemists,” thought Larry. “They probably have a new invention, and want to get it in working order secretly to keep it from other people. I guess there’s no mystery about this.” But Larry did not know what the next development was to be. CHAPTER XXII TRAPPING A THIEF As he watched he heard the men moving quickly about in the room below. Then a brighter glow suffused the apartment and Larry, looking through the crack, saw that one man had what seemed to be an iron pot filled with a gleaming mass. “Steady now!” said someone in a low tone. Larry was all impatience to observe what would come next. He strained his eyes to see better. He drew himself along the floor. This last move was an unfortunate one. Larry’s foot scraped along on the bare boards and his hand moved a chair slightly. In the silence it sounded quite loud. “What’s that?” the boy heard one of the men ask. “I don’t know,” was the reply. “We’d better cut it out, for to-night,” said another. “I believe someone is watching us.” “Nonsense! who can it be?” remarked a voice. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling that we are being observed. Besides, there are some persons in this house who I firmly believe are suspicious of us.” “You’re getting nervous, old man,” was the remark of one who, from the peculiar voice, had not before spoken. “But perhaps we had better stop work for to-night.” Then the light died out, and Larry could see no more. He could hear the men moving about, but, in a few minutes it all became quiet, and there were no further sounds from below. “I wonder what they can be up to, that they don’t want anyone to see; that they are afraid of having known,” mused Larry. Puzzling over these things, Larry finally went to bed. He could not get to sleep for some time, thinking over what he had seen. He wondered if he ought to tell Mr. Newton or someone about the matter, and half resolved to inform his reporter friend of what had taken place. Then he recollected that he had no proof of anything wrong, and he realized that to make charges without this, or even a good idea of what the men were up to, would be foolish. “I’ll say nothing about it,” thought Larry, “but I’ll keep my eyes open. I’m glad there’s a crack in my floor.” Then he fell asleep, to dream that he had been captured by the men on the floor below, who were about to cast him into a fiery furnace for spying on them. He thought they grasped him by his head and his heels and were swinging him to cast him into the flames, when he woke up to find his mother shaking him and saying: “Come, come, Larry. It’s almost breakfast time. You’ve overslept yourself.” He got up with a jump and began dressing, glad enough that he was not going to be burned to death. He ate his breakfast in a hurry and had to run downstairs and halfway to the car, for fear of being behindhand.