Almost two weeks had passed since they first started work on the prize
sets when one evening Doughnuts came rushing into Bob's workroom with
woe writ large on his round countenance.
"What do you think, Bob!" he burst out. "Some crook has stolen
my set."
"Stolen your set!" echoed Bob. "What in the world do you mean?"
"Just that," went on poor Jimmy. "I had it in my father's shop back
of the house. I was working on it last night, and when I went out
this evening, it was gone."
"Was anything else stolen?" asked Bob.
"No. That's the funny thing about it," replied Jimmy. "Nothing was
touched but my set."
"Then it looks to me as though Buck Looker or one of his crowd had
taken it," said Bob, after thinking a few minutes. "You know they
have it in for us, and they'd do anything to harm us."
"Yes, but if that's so, why should they steal my set instead of yours
or Joe's?" argued Jimmy.
"Probably because it was easier to steal yours," said Bob. "We keep
our sets in the house, while yours, being in a shed at the back,
would be a lot easier to get away with."
"Jimminy crickets! I'll bet you're right," exclaimed Jimmy. "It would
be just the kind of dirty trick they'd be likely to play, too."
"If it's Buck Looker and his crowd that's responsible for this, we'll
have your set back or know the reason why," said Bob, throwing down
his tools.
Pages:
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160