“There they are!”

“This way, boys! Oak Hall to the front!”

A vestibule door to one of the cars had been opened and a porter had come down the steps carrying three suit-cases. He was followed by three young men, who waved their hands gayly at Dave and Roger.

“Here at last!” sang out Phil Lawrence, as he rushed forward to catch our hero with one hand and the senator’s son with the other.

“Some city you fellows have here,” criticized Ben Basswood, with a broad grin, as he waited for his turn to “pump handle” his friends.

“Say!” burst out the third new arrival, as he too came forward. “Calling a little, dinky station like this a city puts me in mind of a story. Once some travelers journeyed to the interior of Africa, and——”

“Hello! What do you know about that?” sang out Dave gayly. “Shadow has started to tell a story before he even says ‘how-do-you-do’!”

110“Why, Shadow!” remonstrated Roger in an apparently injured tone of voice. “We heard that you had given up telling stories entirely.”

“Smoked herring! Who told you such a yarn as that?” burst out Phil.

“I don’t intend to give up telling stories,” announced Shadow Hamilton calmly. “I’ve got a brand new lot; haven’t I, fellows? I bet Dave and Roger never heard that one about the coal.”

“What about the coal, Shadow?” demanded Roger, shaking hands.

“Don’t ask him,” groaned Ben. “He’s told that story twenty-six times since we left home.”

“You’re a base prevaricator, Ben Basswood!” roared the former story-teller of Oak Hall. “I told that story just twice—once to you and once to that drummer from Chicago. And he said he had never heard it before, and that proves it’s a new story, because drummers hear everything.”

“Well, that story has one advantage,” was Phil’s comment. “It’s short.”

“All right then, Shadow; let’s hear it. And then tell us all about yourself,” said Dave quickly.

“It isn’t quite as much of a story as it’s a conundrum,” began Shadow Hamilton. “Once a small boy who was very inquisitive went to his aunt in the country and helped her hunt for eggs. Then he said he would like to go down into the cellar. ‘Why do you want to go in the cellar, Freddy?’ 111asked the aunt. ‘I want to go down to look at the egg coal,’ announced the little boy. ‘And then I want to see what kind of chickens lay it.’” And at this little joke both Dave and Roger had to smile.

No other passengers had left the cars at this station, and now the long train rumbled once more on its way. The station master had gone off to look after some messages, so the former chums of Oak Hall were left entirely to themselves.

“It’s a touch of old times to get together again, isn’t it?” cried Dave gayly, as he placed one arm over Phil’s shoulder and the other arm around Ben. “You can’t imagine how glad I am to see all of you.”

“I am sure the feeling is mutual, Dave,” answered Phil. “I’ve missed you fellows dreadfully since we separated.”

“I sometimes wish we were all back at Oak Hall again,” sighed Ben. “My, what good times we did have!”

“I guess you’ll be glad enough to reach Star Ranch, Phil,” went on Dave, giving the ship-owner’s son a nudge in the ribs. “Probably Belle Endicott will be waiting for you with open arms.”

“Sour grapes, Dave. I know where you’d like to be,” retorted Phil, his face reddening. “You’d like to be in Crumville with Jessie Wadsworth—and 112Roger would like to be in the same place, with your sister.”

“Have you fellows had your lunch?” questioned Roger, to change the subject.

“Yes. When we found out that the train was going to be late, we went into the dining-car as soon as it opened,” answered Ben. “How about you?”

“We brought something along and ate it while we were waiting for you,” said the senator’s son. “Come on, it’s quite a trip to the construction camp. We came over on horseback, and we brought three horses for you fellows.”

“Good enough!” cried Shadow. “But what are we going to do with our suit-cases?”

“You’ll have to tie those on somehow,” announced Dave. “We brought plenty of straps along.”

As the five chums got ready for the trip to the construction camp, Dave and Roger were told of many things that had happened to the others during the past few weeks. In return they told about themselves and the encounter with Nick Jasniff.

“A mighty bad egg, that Jasniff,” was Phil’s comment.

“The worst ever,” added Shadow.

“Mr. Dunston Porter and the girls didn’t tell you half of the story about those gypsies,” said Ben. “Those fellows tried to make all sorts of 113trouble for us. They tried to prove that they had a right to camp on that land, and my father and your uncle had to threaten them with the law before they went away. Since that time several of the gypsies have been in town, and they have made a number of threats to get square. That old hag, Mother Domoza, is particularly wrathful. She insists that she got the right to camp there as long as she pleased from some party who used to own a part of the land.”

“Where are the gypsies hanging out now?” questioned Dave.

“Somebody told me they were camping on the edge of Coburntown.”

“You don’t say! That’s the place where I had so much trouble with the storekeepers on account of Ward Porton’s buying so many things in my name.”

“If I were living in Coburntown, I’d keep my eyes open for those gypsies,” declared Ben. “I wouldn’t trust any of them any farther than I could see them. Ever since they camped on the outskirts of Crumville folks have suspected them of raiding hencoops and of other petty thieving. They never caught them at it, so they couldn’t prove it. But my father was sure in his own mind that they were guilty.”

“Yes, and I remember a year or so ago some of the gypsy women came around our place to tell 114fortunes,” added Dave. “They went into the kitchen to tell the fortunes of the cook and the up-stairs girl, and two days later the folks found that two silver spoons and a gold butter-knife were missing. We made some inquiries, but we never got any satisfaction.”

“Looking for stuff like that is like looking for a needle in a haystack,” was Phil’s comment.

“Oh, say! Speaking of a needle in a haystack puts me in mind of a story,” burst out Shadow.

“What! another?” groaned Roger in mock dismay; an............