“Some one has cut the wires!” exclaimed Bob. “You can see where they split the insulation, shoved it to one side, broke the copper, and then put the insulation back to cover up the mean trick.”
“You’re right!” exclaimed Ned. “I’d like to catch the fellow who did it.”
Suddenly Jerry darted over toward the tree beneath which the cycles had been standing. He stooped down and picked up something which he looked at closely.
“I fancy this will give us a clue,” he said, showing a knife with an opened blade, to which there clung some of the insulation from the copper wires.
“Whose is it?” asked Bob.
“It has the initials N. N. on it,” replied Jerry.
“And there’s only one person around here who has a name with those letters,” put in Bob.
“There might be more,” said Jerry, inclined to be cautious, “but I happen to remember that Noddy Nixon had a knife like this. I saw him use it once.”
“This is his first move in getting square, as he would call it,” ventured Ned.