“No trace of it, though it was taken with the other things the thieves carried off. By the way, they never found those thieves, did they?” “No,” replied Larry. “I suppose one of them took a fancy to my ring, and wore it himself, instead of hiding it with the rest of the booty,” mused Mr. Reynolds. “Well, if you ever should happen to come across it, and you might, for you’re a lucky lad, I’ll pay you five hundred dollars.” “I’d be glad to find it for you without the reward,” Larry said. “But I’m afraid there’s little hope.” “Not much, I guess,” agreed Mr. Reynolds. “Now is there anything more you’d like to know about this terrible explosion?” “I guess I have everything I need,” answered the young reporter. “I’m much obliged to you.” “Not at all,” responded Mr. Reynolds. “I find it pays better to be perfectly frank with the newspapers. They’ll find things out, anyhow, and you might as well tell them first, and get it in right.” Larry went back to the office, where he wrote up his interview with Mr. Reynolds, in readiness for the next day’s paper. Then he went home. “I wonder if Jimmy’s been kidnapped,” thought the boy, as he neared his house. In the excitement over the explosion he had forgotten, for a while, the threats the gang had made. CHAPTER XXIII MYSTERIOUS NOTES Larry was quite relieved when he got to the house, and found that nothing unusual had occurred. He was tired from the day’s work, and his mind was full of the terrible scenes he had witnessed. Soon after supper he went to bed. Larry’s room opened out on a fire-escape. As it was warm he had his window open, though it made the room more noisy. Several times during the night he thought he heard someone moving on the escape near his room, but he was too sleepy to get up and make an investigation. “If it’s burglars they’ll not get much here,” he thought, as he turned over, and went to sleep again. Larry awoke with a strange feeling that something had happened. It was as if he had dreamed a nightmare, the thoughts of which still lingered with him. At first he thought it might be a foreboding that Jimmy had been captured by the gang during the night. He jumped out of bed, but, as he did so, he heard his brother’s voice in the next room and knew that the little chap was safe. “It’s all nonsense,” thought Larry to himself, as he began to dress. “I’m thinking too much about this. I’m getting to be as nervous and fidgety as a girl. I must go to work, and forget all about it.” He walked over to the bureau for his collar. As he picked it up his attention was attracted by a piece of paper pinned to the bureau cover. “That’s queer,” he remarked, “I don’t remember putting that there. I wonder if I’m beginning to walk in my sleep, and write notes to myself.” He unpinned the paper. It was folded several times, and when Larry had opened it, he saw printed in large letters this message: