And there they met Janet Steele again. The Red Cross girl had been making inquiries, too, about the same case. "It really is a very serious matter," Janet said to her new friends. "The man who knocked him down should be found. Although the doctors think he has no internal injuries after all, there is a compound fracture which will keep him in bed for a long time, and in addition he seems unable to give any satisfactory explanation of who he is or where he comes from." "Goodness!" exclaimed Jess Morse. "Do you mean he has lost his mind?" "Merely mislaid it," said Janet with a smile. "Or, at least, he cannot remember his name and address." "Didn't he have any papers about him that explain those points?" asked Laura. "That seems to be odd, too," said Janet "No. Not a mark on his clothing, either. But he was plentifully supplied with money, and all the bills were brand new." "Oh!" exclaimed Laura. "That reminds me. That funny bill he passed on Chet was brand new, too. I wonder if all his money is queer?" "What do you mean?" asked Janet, wonderingly. "Is the man a criminal, do you think?" Laura and Jess explained about the peculiarly printed bill, which had given the first named so much trouble in making up her father's accounts the evening before. "But that may be all explained in time," said Janet. "All right," grumbled Bobby Hargrew. "But suppose poor Chet has to lose fifty dollars?" "Father is going to take the bill to the bank to-morrow to see if they can explain the mystery," Laura said. "But that will not explain the mystery of the stranger." said Jess. "Why, he is a regular 'man of mystery,' isn't he?" "Humph!" said Bobby. "And so is the fellow the boys think ran him down. He is a man of mystery as well." CHAPTER V SAND IN THE GEARS Since the whole school had taken such a tremendous interest in "the profession" at the time Central High blossomed forth in Jess Morse's play, the M.O.R.s had given several playlets, and Mrs. Case, the physical instructor, had staged folk dances and tableaux in the big hall. For the Red Cross the association of girls connected with the Girls Branch Athletic League that had carried forward these smaller affairs, had determined to stage "a real play." Nellie Agnew, the doctor's daughter, and secretary of the club, had sent to a publisher for copies of plays that could be put on by amateurs, and interest in the affair waxed high already. The principal point of decision was the identity of the play they were to produce. Mr. Sharp and the other members of the school faculty had agreed to let the girls act, and the big hall, or auditorium, could be used for the production. At noon on Monday the girls interested in the performance met in the principals office to decide upon the play.