“What, had you known them before?” exclaimed Ralph, in some surprise.
“I found out that I had. You remember the first day that you saw me?”
“Yes,” nodded Ralph.
“Well, I had run away from my uncles that morning. I had made up a package hurriedly, containing shoes, coat and cap, and got away through a window in the attic. I went about five miles, when I ran right into two fellows in the 238 woods. They were Slump and Bemis. They got mad at my stumbling over them, took away my parcel and began to belabor me. I had to run to keep from being terribly beaten. Then I sneaked around, hoping to recover my parcel. They had gone in swimming. My parcel had disappeared. I had to have a coat. I grabbed one and ran away with it. They yelled after me, but I outdistanced them. Then later I ran across my uncles looking for me. The rest you know.”
“And what about the coat?”
“Well,” related Earl, “when those fellows broke into your house, they inquired about that coat. I at once saw that they had a great interest in it. I told them I didn’t know where it was. They insisted that I did. They ransacked the house from top to bottom. They took me away from town to a miserable hut where they were staying. Until yesterday I was a prisoner there, tied up, half-starved, and every day Slump would come and demand to know if I was going to tell him what had become of that coat. From the first I knew that coat was what they were after when they burglarized your house, and wrote what words I could on the wall of your sitting room.”
“Yes,” said Ralph, “we found your message there. Did you learn what their especial interest was in the coat?” 239
“Yes, I overheard some of their conversation a few days ago,” replied Earl. “That coat contained some diamonds they found in an old box car.”
“What!” cried Ralph. “Is it possible?”
“It seems so. I escaped yesterday. You had told me about this place, and so I came here. Zeph Dallas was my friend at once, when I told him my story. Here he is now.”