Page:Boys of Columbia High on the River.djvu/190

176 The coming of the boys put another face on the matter, and we succeeded in turning the tables on Martin and Joey. That's all," said Frank, shortly.

"The fact that you mention those names tells me you must be sure about the men, eh, Frank?" questioned the officer, smiling broadly now, and patting Frank on the back.

"They admitted as much," said the other quickly. "In fact, it was because I fooled them about that empty bag that they had it in for me, they said. And you'll laugh when I tell you just what they were talking of doing; planning to make a visit to headquarters this very night, holding up the lone officer left in charge, and looting the safe, in the belief that the jewelry was still kept there."

"Good gracious! they must be desperate cases!" exclaimed Molly, shivering as he drew a little further away from the bound men.

"They must have been joshing you, Frank!" remarked one of the other lads.

"Don't you believe it," said the head of the Columbia police force, soberly, as he stared in the sneering faces of the two prisoners; "from all accounts they're capable of doing anything along that line. It would have been a rough deal, though, and I'd got the laugh from every other police chief in the State. Frank, I owe you another bunch of thanks for this. You're a darling, for a fact!"