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Rh reling, and I hung around rather expecting a fight. But it didn't come."

"You haven't seen the thief since yesterday?"

"No."

"Would you remember the tall, thin man he was with?"

"Oh, yes, for he had a scar on his chin that looked like a knife cut."

"Is he anywhere around?"

"I haven't seen him since. Let us take a walk around—and we can ask Ricks the station master about this."

"We had better ask Mr. Ricks first," said Dick.

All hands, even to the grocery boy, hunted up the station master, an elderly fellow who was well known for his unsociable disposition.

"Don't know anything about any thief," he snapped, after hearing the story. "I mind my own business."

"But he may have taken the train," pleaded Dick. It made his heart sink to think that the watch, that precious memento from his father, might be gone forever.

"Well, if he did, you had better go after him—or telegraph to Middletown," was the short answer, and then the station master turned away.