"Well, you ought to be on to the curves of that Ted Slavin; and if you
just look back to things he's been known to do in the past, why, lots
of times he's played his pranks on people that had a pull. Why, didn't
he even sneak into the loft over Police Headquarters once, and rig up a
scare that came near breaking up the force. Ted fixed it so the wind'd
work through a knot-hole in the dark, whenever he chose to pull a
string over the fence back of the house, and make the awfullest
groaning noise anybody ever did hear. It got on the nerves of Chief
Billings and his men. They hunted that loft over and over, but of
course the groans didn't come when they were up there. Why, he had 'em
so badly rattled that they all just about camped out on the pavement
the rest of that night."

"Sure, I remember that," declared Andy Flinn, laughing. "Three nights did
he play the same joke, and then they got on to him. Wan officer do be
sneakin' up to the loft, while the rist pretended to be huntin' around
downstairs. He discovered the sthring, cript downstairs again, wint out
on the sly, and, be the powers, followed it to the fince. Then he wint
around, and jumped on Tid while the bhoy was a pullin' his sthring like
smoke, makin' worse groanings than any time yit. Sure they thried to hush
the joke up, the police was that ashamed; but it cript out some way."

"Well, get off to bed, Spider and Tom;" said Bobolink, "we'll wake you up
when it's time to change the watch. And remember what a nice little
surprise we've got ready for anybody who thinks he can meddle with things
that don't belong to him. Skip out now, both of you."

The two motorboats had been lashed side by side. They were about of a
size, and something like twenty-four feet in length, with a rather