graciously.

"I'se come fo' to make yo' an offah," said Mr. Thomas. "Yo' said yo' would mahrry me soon as I had a job. Well, I'se got de job now."

"Is it a steady job?"

"Yes, at de stone quarry dribin' a stone wagon."

"How much yo' gits a week, Peter?"

"Twelve dollahs," was the proud answer.

"Den I closes wid you," said the widow, and allowed the suitor to embrace her.

Just then Aleck came in sight. As he saw the couple through the open door he straightened up.

"Maybe yo' didn't look fo' me around, Mrs. Taylor," he said, stiffly.

"Oh, Yes, I did, Mistah Pop," she said, sweetly. "But yo' see—I— dat is—" She stopped short. "Wot's dat?" she cried.

"Wot?"

"Dat hump on yo' back?"

"Ain't no hump on my back," answered Aleck.

"Suah da is."

"He's got a sign on, too," put in Peter Thomas. "Look wot it reads, 'I hab got to hump to cotch de widow.' Hah! hah! hah! Dot's a good one."

"Yo' needn't hump yo'self to cotch me," cried the widow, wrathfully. "I'se engaged to Mistah Thomas." And she smiled on the individual in question.

Crestfallen and bewildered, Aleck felt of his back and took off his coat. He squeezed the rubber rabbit so hard that it exploded with a bang, scaring himself and the others.

"Dat's a trick on me!" roared the Rover's man, and tore the rabbit from his coat. "Dem boys did dat!"

"I can't see yo' to night, or any udder night, Mistah Pop," said the widow. "I'se engaged to Mistah Thomas."

"Den good night," growled Aleck, and turning on his heel he started for home.

Tom and Sam saw that he was angry, yet they had to roar at the scene presented. They wondered what Aleck would say when he got back to the farm.

"We have got to square ourselves," said Tom.

"How are you going to do it?"

"Oh, we'll do it somehow."

They took the short cut, but so did Aleck, and consequently all three soon met.

"Yo' played dat joke yo' can't go fo' to deny it!" cried the colored man.

"We are not going to deny it, Aleck," said Tom. "But it was no joke.
We did it for your good."

"Huh!"

"We certainly did," put in Sam. "Why, Aleck, we can't bear to think of your getting married and leaving us."

"Huh!"

"We want you to stay with us," said Tom. "Besides, that widow has a lot of children and is after your money."

"She ain't got but two chillen. She had moah, but she dun told me all but two was in de seminary."

"The seminary?" queried Tom. Then a light broke in on him. "You mean the cemetery."

"Persackly—de place da puts de dead folks."

"Well, they are in the cemetery right enough—but they are a long way from being dead."

"Wot yo' mean, Tom?"

"We saw her send five of them away this evening—she told 'em to go to the cemetery and stay there awhile."

"Wot! Yo' is fooling dis chile!"

"It is absolutely true," said Sam. "I am quite sure she has seven children."

"Huh! If dat's de case dat Thomas nigger can hab her," grumbled Aleck, and walked on. "But I ain't takin' yo' word fo' dis," he added cautiously. "I'se gwine to make a few investigations to morrow."

"Do so—and you'll thank us from the bottom of your heart," answered Tom; and there the subject was dropped. It may be added here that later on Aleck discovered that the widow had ten children and was head over heels in debt, and he was more than glad that the boys had played the trick on him, and that the other colored man had gained Mrs. Taylor's hand.

CHAPTER IV

A MIDNIGHT SEARCH

That night was destined to be an eventful one on the Rover farm. Arriving home, Sam and Tom told of the fun they had had and Dick laughed heartily. Then all three of the boys went to bed.

About midnight came a loud shouting from the barn, followed by the report of a shotgun. This was followed by a shriek from Sarah, the cook, who was afraid that burglars had come to murder her.

"What's that?" questioned Dick, as he hopped out of bed.

"That's Jack Ness' gun," answered Tom. "Something must be wrong at the barn."

"Chicken thieves again—I'll bet a new hat," said Sam. By this time Randolph Rover and his wife were up and were lighting a lamp. Without waiting for them, the boys slipped on some clothing and their shoes and ran downstairs. Dick took with him a pistol and each of the others a baseball bat.

"Boys! boys! be careful!" shouted their uncle after them.

"All right," returned Dick, readily.

He was the first outside, but Sam and Tom were close upon his heels. He heard Jack Ness running to the edge of a cornfield, shouting lustily. Then came another report of the shotgun.

"What is it, Jack?" shouted Dick. "Who are you shooting at?"

"I'm after two men," was the hired man's reply. "They jest run into the cornfield."

"Chicken thieves?" queried Tom.

"I guess so—anyway they was prowlin' around the hen house an' the barn. I called an' asked 'em what they wanted and they ran for dear life—so I knew they was up to no good."

"They certainly must have been chicken thieves, or worse," was Sam's comment. "Really, this is getting to be too much," he added. "We ought to catch them and have them locked up."

"I'm willing to go after them," answered Tom, readily.

"Did you get a good look at the rascals?" asked Dick.

"Not very good," answered Jack Ness.

"They weren't boys, were they?"

"No—they were men—both tall and heavy fellows."

"Did you ever see them before?" asked Tom. "Not that I can remember."

While they were talking the party of four had run down to the edge of the cornfield. This spot was really a peach orchard, but the trees were still so small that the ground was being utilized that season for corn, planted in rows between the trees. The corn was not yet full grown, but it was high enough to conceal a man lying flat or crouching down.

The sky was filled with stars and the old moon was beginning to show over the hills beyond the valley, so it was fairly light across the field. The boys kept their eyes on the corn and the peach trees, but failed to discover any persons moving among them.

"My shotgun is empty—maybe I had better go back and load up," said the hired man.

"Yes, do it, but hurry up," answered Dick. "I'll stay here on guard with the pistol."

The hired man ran off toward the barn. Hardly had he disappeared when
Sam gave a short cry and pointed into the field with his hand.

"I saw somebody raise up just now and look around," he said. "He is out of sight now."

"Where?" came from Dick and Tom quickly. "Over yonder by the twisted peach tree."

"I'll investigate," said Dick. "You can come along if you want to. Keep your eyes open for both men. We don't want either to get away if we can help it."

The three lads spread out in something of a semi circle and advanced slowly into the field, keeping their eyes and