Unrolling himself from his blankets, and making as little disturbance as possible in this operation, Jerry made his way to the edge of the mow and looked down. It was ten feet to the barn floor, and there was a ladder at one side, up which the boys had climbed. Down below him, seated around a lantern, the glow of which was dimmed by an old coat wrapped about it, Jerry saw three ragged and drenched men. “Tramps!” was his instant thought. “They came in here just as we did, to get out of the rain.” The rain was still coming down in torrents, as evidenced by the rattle on the barn roof, and Jerry was about to crawl back and go to sleep again, reasoning that the tramps had as much right in the barn as had he and his squad, when something happened to make him change his plans. One of the men by a quick motion accidentally disturbed the coat shrouding the lantern, and a bright gleam shot out at one side. This gleam revealed something that made Jerry start and catch his breath. “Crooked Nose!” he exclaimed in a whisper, as he stared at one of the three men gathered about the lantern. “There’s old Crooked Nose! And this time we ought to catch him, sure!” For a daring plan had instantly occurred to Jerry. He and his chums could make prisoners of the three men, including the mysterious one who had been seen in Cresville the night of the fire. Of course, in a way, it was taking a risk, not only of bodily harm, but also because the young soldiers had no right to detain the men, against only one of whom was there any suspicion, and but slight suspicion at that. “But we’ve got to get ’em and see what it all means,” decided Jerry. “I wish I had a little more evidence to go on, though, and I wish I knew who those other two were.” “Easy with the light there,” growled the man with the crooked nose, as he replaced the coat his companion had dislodged. “Do you want to bring the farmer and his dogs down on us?” “Nobody’ll be out such a night,” was the answer. “You’re too much afraid. Freitlach!” “Shut up!” exclaimed the other. “Didn’t I tell you not to use that name? Don’t use any names.” “Aw, don’t be so afraid!” taunted the third man--the one who had his back toward Jerry. “You’re nervous.” “And so would you be if you’d done what I have. If they catch me--” and the man with the crooked nose looked apprehensively over his shoulder into the dark shadows of the barn. “That’s it; he’s too much afraid,” said the man with his back toward Jerry. “He’s always afraid!” “He’s afraid of too much,” sneered the man who had displaced the coat. “He’s afraid to give us our share of the swag, and I want mine, too. I’m tired of waiting. I want to have a settlement and get out. That’s what I told you when we met to-night, and that’s what I’m going to have. I’ve starved and begged long enough. Now I want my share!” and he banged his fist on the loose boards of the barn floor, close to the lantern, setting it to swaying so that the man with the crooked nose exclaimed: