Have you seen any strange or suspicious char-
acters around lately?"
"I should say we hed," exclaimed Jeb emphatically.
"I seen the wo'st lookin' gang o' bums come outen my
hay barn this mornin' thet I ever seed in my life. They
must o' ben upward of a dozen on 'em. They waz makin'
fer the house when I steps in an' grabs my ol' shot
gun. I hollered at 'em not to come a step nigher 'n' I
guess they seed it wa'n't safe monkeyin' with me; so
they skidaddled."
"Which way did they go?" asked Burton.
"Off down the road yonder; but I don't know which
way they turned at the crossin's, er ef they kept straight
on toward Millsville."
Burton asked a number of questions in an effort to
fix the identity of some of the gang, warned Jeb to tele-
phone him at Jonas Prim's if he saw anything further of
the strangers, and then retraced his steps toward the
car. Not once had Jeb mentioned the youth who had
purchased supplies from him that morning, and the
reason was that Jeb had not considered the young man
of sufficient importance, having cataloged him mentally
as an unusually early specimen of the summer camper
with which he was more or less familiar.
Willie, on the contrary, realized the importance of
their morning customer, yet just how he was to cash in
on his knowledge was not yet entirely clear.
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