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236 "We won't say anything about this," spoke Tom, "and"

"Not say anything about it!" cried Sid. "Well, I guess we will! Think we're going to let our clock disappear, and keep mum over it? I guess not!"

"I didn't mean that," explained Tom. "I meant that we'd not come out boldly, and admit that we didn't know enough to keep our clock from being taken. But to-morrow—at chapel—or whenever we can, we'll just sneak up back of Dutch, the Jersey twins, or whoever else we suspect, and say 'clock' to them. That will make the guilty one start, and we'll have our man."

"I see—a sort of detective stunt," remarked Frank.

"Sort of," admitted Tom.

"How would it do to make a noise like a tick," suggested Phil.

"Say, I'm not joking," exclaimed Tom.

"Neither am I," asserted Phil. "But let's be real mysterious about it, and we'll get the guilty one so much more easily."

"Oh, don't be silly!" snapped Tom, who, truth to tell, was getting a bit short-tempered.

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Say, let's all get back to bed, and fight this out in the morning," suggested Frank, and they