"What a lawyer you would make, Hugh, or a detective either, for that matter," the other boy exclaimed. "What did Leon say when they found the stolen stuff hidden under his barn?" further questioned Hugh, deigning to smile at his chum's compliment, however. "Nary a thing would he say, except to declare himself innocent, and that he himself had heard a noise out there last night, and guessed that some enemy of his must have set up a mean game on him, wanting to get him nabbed. But say, Hugh, the Chief pulled seven packets of cigarettes out of his coat-pocket, every one stamped with the same maker's name; and nobody in Scranton handles that brand but Paul Kramer." "It looks pretty bad for Leon, I should say," remarked Hugh. "Oh! he'll get a free pass to the Reform School this time, as sure as anything!" asserted Thad; "and a good riddance of bad rubbish, most people in Scranton will be saying. Of course they'll be sorry for his mother, who is a respectable woman, and has had heaps of trouble with that good-for-nothing son of hers." "But about the other thief, Thad?" "Well, Chief Wambold said there wasn't any doubt in the wide world but that it must be Nick Lang, and I guess everybody around agreed with him, Hugh." "Did he go up and arrest Nick?" asked Hugh, deeply interested. "Just what he did, and I was along with the crowd," Thad told him. "Well, sir, you never saw such a cool customer. Nick smiled as brazenly in the face of the Chief as anything you ever saw. They searched, and searched, but never a scrap of the stolen goods could they run across." "Well, what then, Thad?" "Why, of course the Chief declared that Nick had only been some smarter than his pal in hiding the spoils where no one could find the stuff. He told Nick he would have to arrest him on general suspicion because Leon and he were such great pals, and Leon was already as good as convicted." "Yes, and what did Nick say to that?" asked Hugh. "Would you believe it, Hugh, he up and told the Chief that he could prove an alibi. You see, the robbery was done before eleven o'clock last night, because the clock that was knocked down when the thieves were rummaging around in the store had been broken, and it stopped at just a quarter to eleven. Even Chief Wambold agreed on that point." "Yes, and it was cleverly settled, I must say, Thad. But how about Nick's alibi; would the Chief accept his mother's word, knowing that the chances were Nick had slipped out of the house by a window when she supposed him to be sound asleep in his bed?"