His voice sounded almost like a clap of thunder and all Skippy could do was to look at the man's enormous feet. He had never noticed them before and they fascinated him. "Have you lost your voices, _eh_?" Devlin roared. "_Answer me!_" There was no mistaking his anger. "Gee whiz, mister--a--," Skippy stammered, "we was sound asleep n' all of a sudden we heard you poundin' on the door an'...." "Shut up and answer my question! What's the idea of the bed against the door? What's the idea of Frost gone? The lock picked and the room ransacked?" "We didn't touch nothin' but the ladder, mister," Skippy answered, feeling more courage. "We don't know nothin' bout the lock--it was like that when we come upstairs looking for a ladder. We wanted sump'n to do so we thought we'd go up in the attic n' look round 'cause it's fun on a rainy night an'...." "Where's Frost gone?" It was like the roar of a lion. Skippy cringed inwardly but he managed to smile in Devlin's face. "He just went, that's all. He said he left a note explainin' things an' he said somethin' about losin' his keys an' he was lookin' all round for 'em. Then he went upstairs n' he was up a long time an' then he come down." "A lot of good you are!" Devlin rumbled deep in his throat. "What's the matter with you, Fallon--can't you talk any more, eh?" "The kid's tellin' what happened, Dev----" It was out! Devlin glared. "Who told you to call me that?" "Timmy told us Frost called you that." Nickie too, was quite calm now. "He did, did he?" The man's eyes narrowed. "Well, let it pass, it don't matter now--this is my last month in this house, anyway, and no dick will hear that I'm Devlin through...." He stopped, as if bewildered, but only for a moment. Then he asked: "Which one of the Greeks did he take?" "Both," Skippy said quietly. "_Both!_" Devlin was plainly beside himself and he made no further attempt to conceal it. He stepped back into the hall, waving his long arms from side to side. "He did, did he! So he took 'em both, eh? Well, I'll show ... where's the note?" "How'd we know?" Skippy retorted. "We looked for a ladder, that's all, n' it wouldn't be where there was a note, would it?" If Devlin heard that, he gave no sign. He stalked into his room and was even then in possession of the note. While he read it, he ran his long, hairy fingers back and forth through his hair. "His hair's wet, kid--awful wet!" Nickie whispered. Skippy nodded grimly. "An' his feet, Nick--look at 'em--they're covered with mud! Looks like he's been walkin' through plenty." Nickie shivered, but they said no more for Devlin had already read the note and was tearing it into a hundred pieces. Also, he was looking at the boys and a hard, cold glitter was in his eyes. "You boys still haven't told me what you had the bed up against the door for?" he asked, with a hint of cunning in his suddenly modulated tones.