"I don't know."
"Stolen," nodded Dick Munson.
"Same old game," muttered Phipps. "Yes, what next?"
"Then in a most miraculous way I found Master Ned. I had gone to sleep, worn out and discouraged, not caring much whether I got back or not, the way I felt then. Along toward morning I woke up. I thought I had heard something. I listened, and then all at once realized that some one was snoring not far from me."
"And it wasn't Chunky this time," cut in Walter Perkins.
"Chunky doesn't snore on an empty stomach," laughed Tad.
"I called out, 'Hello, who's there?' The snorer woke up calling out something that I could not catch."
"Who was it?" asked Stacy in a hurry to learn what the Professor was getting at.
"Well, when he woke up he said his name was Ned Rector and that he was lost."
The Professor smiled grimly as the boys shouted with laughter, in which Tom Phipps joined. Even the rugged face of the superintendent relaxed into a broad smile.