“Suddenly I heard a faint noise beside me and could just see something scud past me onto the veranda.”

“What did it look like?”

“It was about as high as a small dog, only shorter and thicker than a dog, and ran with a clumsy, heavy, sideways motion.”

“Are you sure it was a dog?”

“No, I’m not sure, for I didn’t see it plainly.  All I could see was that it looked like some kind of an animal, but just what kind I couldn’t determine.”

“Your description would lead me to believe that it was a coon.”

“No, I don’t think it was a coon, or I would have been able to distinguish it by its smell.”

“I didn’t know but that it might be a coon trained to steal and sneak out.  I’ve heard of such things, and it is by no means impossible, for you know that coons, like crows, are natural-born thieves.”

“By Jove, that gives me an idea.  I think it was a dog, and that its strange gait was due to the fact that the money had been tied upon him so that he would get away with it in case Farley was caught.”

“No, the dog theory is wrong.  What about a trained monkey?” Stella looked around the table to see how this was taken.

“C’rect!” shouted Bud.  “Stella, yer struck ther problem a solar plexus thet time.”

“That does seem reasonable, and if it is true it solves the mysterious robberies of the Strongburg Trust Company’s office, the post office, and Creviss’ bank,” said Ted.

“It’s worth looking into, anyway,” said Ben.  “Now I wonder if there is such a thing as a trained monkey in my marvelous and magnificent gathering of the splendors of the Orient out there.  By Jove, I’m going through that camp with a fine-tooth comb, and if I find a monk, I’ll habeas-corpus him, and we’ll hang him to the rafters.”

“Well, mum’s the word about the money,” warned Ted.  “We don’t want this thing to leak out.  If it does, there’s a chance against us.”

Although they all felt pretty blue about the loss of the money, they had nothing but hearty welcomes and smiles for their guests, who began to arrive from all parts of the county, and from far-distant States and Territories, to help rejoice with the boys for a prosperous year, not knowing that all the prosperity had fallen into the hands of thieves.

The grounds about the ranch house had been gayly decorated for the occasion.  An enormous American flag flapped and snapped in the fresh breeze from the top of a tall staff in front of the house, and the Belle Fourche band was playing in a gayly decorated stand.  The showmen had erected their tents, and already the boys and girls from the ranches and towns were going in and out, witnessing the wonders to be beheld in them.

Stella was receiving her girl guests on the veranda, for she was a great favorite among the cowgirls in the country on account of her friendliness and unaffected ways.

Mrs. Graham was welcoming the older women, while Ted and Jack Slate were shaking hands with the ranchmen and cowboys.