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Rh took his advice, though it was but a troubled sleep that any of the four got the rest of that night.

Talking it over by daylight they decided that Tom's plan might not be so bad. Accordingly, they put it into practice.

"Clock!" suddenly exclaimed Sid, as he slid up behind Dutch Housenlager after chapel. "Tick-tock!"

"Tag. You're it!" quickly responded Dutch, "What's the signal?"

"You're not guilty, I see," spoke Sid, with a sigh.

"Of course not. What's the answer?"

"Someone took our clock last night."

"Oh, that battered chronometer? Say, do you know what I thought?"

"Couldn't guess it."

"That you were trying to initiate me into a new secret society, and that you were practicing the password—tick-tock!"

"Nothing doing. Say, Dutch, if you hear of anyone who has it, tip me off, will you?"

"I sure will," and then, to show how much in earnest he was, Dutch tripped Sid up and deposited him on the grass of the campus.

Nor was Tom, or his other two chums any more successful. Each time they tried the surprise plan on any suspect they received an answer that told they were on the wrong track.