"Well, it's good there ain't no more furniture to catch the dust, hah?" Fallon commented humorously as he took note of their surroundings. "Say, I wonder what's the big idea, barrin' windows--I ain't keen on bars. Makes me think we're in Delafield almost." Shorty got up softly and moved his chair close to the others. When his pudgy body was seated, he leaned over confidentially and said, "Mebbe we better in Delafield, eh Neecky?" He shook his round head at his friend Biff, then nodded back at Fallon. "Eet look what ya call phoney the way thees Barker don' look at us an' how he bring us here to thees spooky, dirty place, eh?" "Just what I teenck!" Biff agreed in an undertone. "I get dem creeps--you know? Ever'ting eet should be fun eef Barker an' Frost fool dem bulls an' take us keeds from de school--eet should be fun eef they do it because they no want us to do the stretch and feel dis seempathy, eh? But no--they act like we was goin' to funeral, yes Neecky?" "Aw, forget it!" Nicky answered. "I'll admit I ain't got no yen for this joint myself. But we ain't where we can say we'd like a nice up-to-date apartment. We gotta be glad we ain't startin' no long stretch at Delafield. I got a hunch Frost's kinda slippery an' Barker's a queer bird all right, but what's that when they're keepin' us outa the hoosegow!" "An' for thees, Neecky--what we do, eh?" Biff asked, squinting his small, brown eyes. "I think," Nicky whispered, "they got a small job for us guys to do--see? Ain't we all done a job or two for ourselves, hah? So we can do a job for them if they ast us--see?" He turned to Skippy suddenly and asked, "Ain't that right, kid?" "Sure!" Skippy answered, conscious of an inward tremor as he said it. "That's the kind of talk I like to hear, boys!" came a sepulchral voice from the doorway where Barker stood watching them. He was grave and unsmiling, and save for a certain steely glint in his staring eyes, his face looked not unlike a cold, clay mask. Nickie Fallon broke the tension with a forced, husky laugh. "You'n Frost give us a break, Mr. Barker," he said nervously, "we'd be short skates if we didn't try an' square it." "Of course," Barker agreed without any enthusiasm. A silence ensued that to Skippy was tense. Barker continued to stand there and stare, and the boys sat rigid in their chairs until the welcome sound of footsteps was heard coming down the stairs and along the hall. Frost strode into the big room and in his wake was a tall, fair-haired boy of about sixteen whose appearance was somewhat disheveled. He had a wild expression in his light blue eyes and at sight of Barker a shadow crossed his face. "I been most crazy barred up in that dark hole since daylight!" he cried. "I thought you'n Frost would never come! Honest, I'll go nuts if I ain't let out soon. Over a month an' two kids're gone an' I'm still here! Barker, it's givin' me the creeps--honest! It's worse'n if I stayed in the pen up in Al...."