Produced by D Alexander, Joseph Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net PHILO GUBB Correspondence-School Detective BY ELLIS PARKER BUTLER WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1918 COPYRIGHT, 1913, 1914, AND 1915, BY THE RED BOOK CORPORATION COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY ELLIS PARKER BUTLER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED _Published September 1918_ [Illustration: "IN THE DETECKATIVE LINE NOTHING SOUNDS FOOLISH" (_page 218_)] CONTENTS THE HARD-BOILED EGG 3 THE PET 21 THE EAGLE'S CLAWS 43 THE OUBLIETTE 66 THE UN-BURGLARS 95 THE TWO-CENT STAMP 113 THE CHICKEN 138 THE DRAGON'S EYE 156 THE PROGRESSIVE MURDER 171 THE MISSING MR. MASTER 185 WAFFLES AND MUSTARD 205 THE ANONYMOUS WIGGLE 227 THE HALF OF A THOUSAND 247 DIETZ'S 7462 BESSIE JOHN 266 HENRY 288 BURIED BONES 307 PHILO GUBB'S GREATEST CASE 329 ILLUSTRATIONS "IN THE DETECKATIVE LINE NOTHING SOUNDS FOOLISH" _Frontispiece_ "THIS SHELL GAME IS EASY ENOUGH WHEN YOU KNOW HOW" 8 MR. WINTERBERRY DID NOT SEEM TO BE CONCEALED AMONG THEM 30 A HEAD SILHOUETTED AGAINST ONE OF THE GLOWING WINDOWS 44 "THESE HERE IS FALSE WHISKERS AND HAIR" 86 "WHO SENT YOU HERE, ANYWAY?" 106 UNDER HIS ARM HE CARRIED A SMALL BUNDLE 108 SHE MADE GESTURES WITH HER HANDS 128 "DETECKATING IS MY AIM AND MY PROFESSION" 138 WITH ANOTHER GROAN WIXY RAISED HIS HANDS 150 "THE 'ONGSOMBLE' OF MY COSTUME IS RUINED" 162 "THERE AIN'T A DAY HE DON'T SHOOT AND HIT ME" 178 THE MISSING MR. MASTER 202 "YOU ARE A MAN, AND BIG AND STRONG AND BRAVE-LIKE" 234 HE PERSPIRES, AND OUT COMES THE CRUEL ADMISSION 252 A MAN WHO LOOKED LIKE NAPOLEON BONAPARTE GONE TO SEED 268 HE WORE A SET OF RED UNDER-CHIN WHISKERS 280