The voice came from the group of trees. It was hard, as a whiphandle is hard, and was applying itself to the scourging of someone. “You’re still a fool, I see! A skunk I can stand. A fool isn’t even worth killin’--his hide’s no good. Understand?” “But Jerry, you told me--” Jerry! That was it! Jerry Lefton! That’s who the speaker was! He and-- “I told you,” the voice went on “not to try anything without me or Bill with you! Just because you’re known as Mob Jamisson, bad man, you think you can’t miss, hey? Well, here’s one you missed, and it’s going to mean plenty of trouble for us, too! Even if you did plug one of ’em, what about the other? He’d get away sure, an’ the fat would be in the fire. It is, anyhow, I guess. They know we’re after ’em now. Before they only suspected it. Mob, I could crease you myself for this!” “Aw, lay off!” The voice was raised in anger. Mob had evidently come to the limit of his endurance. “You’ll crease nobody! Get that? An’ you won’t bawl me out no more, either! If there’s any creasin’ to be done, I’ll do it! I’m a partner in this scheme, same as you are. If I got an idea that I think is a good one, I can try it, I reckon.” “You’d better let me or Bill look over your ideas for you,” Jerry Lefton said dryly. “If you were alone I wouldn’t care what you did. You could hang yourself for all of me. But the way things are fixed now, if the rope goes around your neck it goes around ours too. Me, I don’t like that kind of a necktie. You hear me?” “I hear you,” Jamisson growled. “I bungled, I admit it. But I thought I could get that fool easy. Must have been a bum cartridge. Well, the next time you want a thing done you’ll do it yourself. I had--” The voices grew indistinct as the men moved on. An isolated word would come back to Teddy, then the tones ceased altogether. Still the boy lay there, thinking. “Jerry Lefton and Mob Jamisson,” he muttered slowly. “Now we’re out in the open. The cards are on the table. He wanted to kill me--and Roy--because we suspect what they are up to. Uh-huh.” He got to his feet and settled the hat more firmly on his head. Carefully, quietly, he walked back. Roy was waiting for him. “Got it, hey? Bet you had a hard time to find it. I should have gone to you. Golly, I was afraid you’d got lost!” “No, I didn’t get lost,” Teddy answered musingly. “And I didn’t have a hard time to find the hat,” he added. “I knew just where it was.” “You did? Then what in thunder--” “Roy, you haven’t got a spare badge, have you?” “Huh? What’s that? What kind of a badge?” “A detective badge.” Teddy chuckled. “I just joined your force.” CHAPTER XIII A DOWN-GRADE PROBLEM