Page:The Eight-Oared Victors.djvu/208



", what do you know about that?"

"So that's where you sneaked off to when we went after the shell?"

"And that's why you didn't bake the cake?"

Tom's three chums gave expression to these sentiments as they looked over the bunch of pawn tickets he had brought away with him from the Mexican's shack. A hasty glance through them had shown Tom that none was for a brooch, and realizing that he could still keep Ruth's secret, he had decided to tell his friends the whole story. Which he did, keeping back only as much as was necessary not to let them know of Ruth's loss.

He related how he had overheard a "certain" conversation between Boswell and the Mexican, hurrying over that part of the story so they might not ask what the talk was about. Then he told of his own and Blasdell's visits to the shack.

"Say, this beats anything I ever heard of!" declared Frank.