“It is not,” the lawyer answered, with a smile. “And I don’t suppose anything of the kind. I feel perfectly sure that Gale had no intention of having that bomb explode in his hands.” “Then how do you suppose it happened?” “It was an accident, of course. My theory is that the Gales didn’t intend to have the bomb explode at all. They planned merely to have it ‘discovered’ in the Chronicle Building, timed to go off at a certain hour. They were going to send for Chief Hodgins, and have him remove the package to police headquarters. If the plan had gone through all right, Hodgins would have taken the package to headquarters, soaked it in a pail of water, and then examined its contents. He would have announced that it was a genuine, sure-enough infernal machine of the most deadly type. Within a few hours everybody in Oldham would have heard of the dastardly attempt to blow up the Chronicle Building.” “And that Fred Carroll was responsible for it,” the Camera Chap added, with a grim smile. “Well, I don’t know about that,” the lawyer answered. “I don’t think that they would have sprung that sensation right away. If they had a proper sense of the dramatic, they would have allowed the identity of the sender of the infernal machine to remain a mystery for several days. Then, when the people of Oldham were keyed up to a proper pitch of excitement, Hodgins would suddenly have announced that the infernal machine had been sent by Carroll, and would have produced his evidence to prove his startling charge.” “You certainly possess a vivid imagination, Mr. Hands,” the Camera Chap declared. “I have no doubt, though, that that is just about what they intended to do, if the bomb hadn’t gone off accidentally while old Gale was handling it in his private office, and made the thing much more serious than they contemplated.” “I am confident that my theory is correct,” said the lawyer; “but the trouble is, we are going to have a hard job proving it. In order to do so, we shall have to show that Gale made the infernal machine himself. I am afraid that is going to be a poser.” “I’ve got an idea, Mr. Hands,” said Hawley. “I think if I were to go out and take a snapshot of young Gale it might help us a lot.” “How?” the lawyer queried, with a bewildered frown. “A snapshot of young Gale? I must confess that I can’t perceive what good that’ll do.” But when Hawley had explained what he intended to do with the picture when he got it, Mr. Hands smiled upon him approvingly. “An excellent plan!” he cried enthusiastically. “Go ahead and carry it out. I congratulate you upon your bright idea. If it succeeds, it will surely get your friend Carroll out of his predicament; and I have strong hopes that it will succeed.” CHAPTER XXXVIII. A CLEVER SCHEME. The younger Gale was greatly astonished when, as he was walking along Main Street, Hawley suddenly appeared a few yards in front of him with a camera in his hand, and coolly proceeded to take his picture.