"I saw him running across the garden," put in the hired man. "Did he
steal anything?"

"To be sure he stole something," said Sam. "He ransacked the whole
lower floor, by the looks of things."

"Wonder who it was?" put in Tom.

"It was Arnold Baxter," answered his father.

"Arnold Baxter!" cried the others in chorus.

"Are you certain?" asked Dick.

"Yes. He struck me down, and then lit the bit of tallow candle you see
lying there. Then we struggled, and he hit me again, and that is all I
know. But I am sure it was Baxter, for I spoke to him. He accused us of
having robbed him of that mine out West."

"Was he alone?" asked Randolph Rover.

"I saw no one else."

"We ought to follow him up," declared Tom, now that he realized his
father was not so badly hurt as at first feared.

"That's the talk!" ejaculated Dick. "Wait till I get my pistol."

"Boys, do keep out of harm," pleaded Mrs. Rover. "Remember that this