"Ay! ay!" came from the others.

Still the stranger hesitated.

"It's risky for all of us," he said. "Have done with this nonsense. If you are going to do away with the thief, get to work; if you're not, why, let him go. We can't stand here all night chinning."

"Off with your mask!" said the leader of the crowd, sternly.

"All right," said the fellow, desperately; "I agree. Off with yours, then, all of you."

Several of the crowd removed their masks. The stranger raised his hand, as if to take his off, but instead of doing so, he turned suddenly and made a rush for a thick growth of wood near which the scene we have just described had been enacted. In a few moments—before his companions could recover from their astonishment—he had disappeared.

"After him, Hammond and Thompson, and you, Porter!" shouted the leader. "Don't let him get away from you."

Then turning to Al, he added:

"Boy, I believe we have made a mistake. That fellow is the real thief."

"I don't know about that," said our hero, "but I do know I'm not."