"Get out! How do you know that?"
"Deduction," said Patch. "The clue of the broken bootlace."
"Broken bootlace," repeated Billy Faraday in bewilderment. "What on earth do you mean by that?"
"I refer to a clue, comrade—and a valuable one at that. It means just this. You see these two footprints here, just where the burglar landed out of the window? And those further along, which are also his, for a certainty?"
"Yes—go on."
"Well, I—hang it, there goes the second bell, and we'll have to scoot. I'll explain it all after morning-school."
And with that promise the mystified pals had to be content. Had Patch actually found out something worth while, or was the whole thing merely a false alarm?