"No, he didn't," laughed Mr. Prescott. "That was Tom Reade, and he was playing a trick on you---with our permission. Now he's being chased. Do you want to go out and aid that crowd in capturing him?" "Of course I don't, sir," replied Dick, who knew full well that such a sturdy high school athlete as Tom Reade was in very little danger of being caught by any citizen runners to be found on the street at that time of night. "But what did Tom do, Dad?" "I don't just know," admitted the bookseller. "Reade told us there would be a smash of glass, but that it would be harmless. He warned your mother, Dick, so that she wouldn't he startled when it came. Tom did the right thing in warning your mother. I wish all boys could realize that only cowards and fools go about frightening women." "But something else happened," insisted Mrs. Prescott. "I wonder what it was?" "Suppose we take a lantern and go out in the back yard and see," proposed Dick. While Dick was finding the lantern the elder Prescott closed the front of the store, also drawing down the shades for the night. Dick's mother followed him into the rear yard. The fragments of the bottle under one of the store windows told the whole story to one as experienced in jokes as Dick Prescott. "But see how wet the ground is," Mrs. Prescott remarked after Dick had explained the trick. "That was because I didn't recognize the joker, and emptied the contents of my water pitcher on him just as he broke the bottle," Dick smiled. "Poor old Tom. That was really a shame!" "But why did you pour the water on him?" asked Mrs. Prescott. "Because I felt sure that the prowler was up to some mischief, and I wanted to mark him for identification, mother," Dick explained. "If we had found a fellow on the street looking as though he had just come out of the river, we'd have known our man, wouldn't we? Poor Tom! I don't blame him for letting out that yell when that drenching splash hit him." "I hope he didn't get caught by the men who started after him," sighed Mrs. Prescott. "Don't worry about Tom, mother," urged Dick. "No one about here could catch him, unless he happened to be a member of the Gridley High School Eleven!" But was it true that Tom Reade had escaped without disaster? That remained to be seen. CHAPTER II DODGE AND BAYLISS HEAR SOMETHING "If we start to-morrow we must hustle all day long to-day," declared Dave Darrin. "That's true," agreed Greg Holmes, as the two boys stood on a side street not far from Main Street in Gridley. "I wish the rest of the fellows would hurry along," Dave went on impatiently. "At all events, I wish Dick would hurry up, as he has charge of the arrangements," Greg made answer. "Oh, my! But I'm getting anxious to see the fish nibble." "I thought you didn't care especially about fishing," Dave murmured, regarding his friend.