"That man!" whispered Frank. "See him! That's the one who gave me the bad money--the Confederate twenty dollar bill. What can he be doing here? Oh, if I could only get Mr. Mason's money back from that man!" "Let's wait and see what he is doing," suggested Harry. The man had not yet seen them. The boys could watch him as he seemed to be hiding back of the corner of the country store. "He's up to some trick, I'm sure," said Bert. A few seconds later Mr. Mack, the owner of the store, came out and walked down the village street. Hardly had he started off than the strange man quickly went into the store. "He's going to take the money!" exclaimed Bert. "There's no one in the store now. He waited for Mr. Mack to come out, so he could go in and get the money." "No, I don't think that," spoke Harry. "George Smith, a boy I know, works for Mr. Mack, and attends to the store when Mr. Mack goes out. George must be in there now." "Well, that man is up to some trick, I'm sure!" exclaimed Frank. "How can we find out what it is?" "We can go in the store through the back door," said Harry. "Come on, we'll do it, and sneak in quietly! Then we can see what's going on." Quietly the three boys went into the store through the rear entrance. No one up front could see them because of the piles of boxes and barrels in front of the counters. "Well, what can I do for you to-day?" the three heard George Smith ask the stranger. "I want two pounds of the best butter," was the man's answer. "And I suppose you can change a twenty dollar bill, can't you?" "Oh, yes," said George. "We've got that much change." "You were sure of that?" asked the man, glancing around the store nervously. "Yes, sir, we always keep plenty of change on hand." "Very well then, go and weigh out the butter and be sure and give me good weight." "We always give full weight, sir," answered George. Bert and the others could hear, but could not see George as he weighed out the butter. Then Frank whispered: "I want to get near enough so I can see what kind of a twenty dollar bill that man gives this boy. Maybe it will be no good, just as he fooled me." "Come over here," whispered Harry. "You can look through this crack between two boxes. It's right near the cash drawer, and you can see the bill when George makes change for it." Frank crept up to make an observation, and as the store boy took the bill from the man, and began making change, Frank could not hold back any longer. He saw that the bill was the same kind that had fooled him. It was Confederate money, and utterly worthless. "Don't give that man any change!" cried Frank. "That's bad money!" CHAPTER XXII HAPPY DAYS