As he watched he heard the men moving quickly about in the room below. Then a brighter glow suffused the apartment and Larry, looking through the crack, saw that one man had what seemed to be an iron pot filled with a gleaming mass.  
“Steady now!” said someone in a low tone.
 
Larry was all impatience to observe what would come next. He strained his eyes to see better. He drew himself along the floor.
 
This last move was an unfortunate one. Larry’s foot scraped along on the bare boards and his hand moved a chair slightly. In the silence it sounded quite loud.
 
“What’s that?” the boy heard one of the men ask.
 
“I don’t know,” was the reply.
 
“We’d better cut it out, for to-night,” said another. “I believe someone is watching us.”
 
“Nonsense! who can it be?” remarked a voice.
 
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling that we are being observed. Besides, there are some persons182 in this house who I firmly believe are suspicious of us.”
 
“You’re getting nervous, old man,” was the remark of one who, from the peculiar voice, had not before spoken. “But perhaps we had better stop work for to-night.”
 
Then the light died out, and Larry could see no more. He could hear the men moving about, but, in a few minutes it all became quiet, and there were no further sounds from below.
 
“I wonder what they can be up to, that they don’t want anyone to see; that they are afraid of having known,” mused Larry.
 
Puzzling over these things, Larry finally went to bed. He could not get to sleep for some time, thinking over what he had seen. He wondered if he ought to tell Mr. Newton or someone about the matter, and half resolved to inform his reporter friend of what had taken place. Then he recollected that he had no proof of anything wrong, and he realized that to make charges without this, or even a good idea of what the men were up to, would be foolish.
 
“I’ll say nothing about it,” thought Larry, “but I’ll keep my eyes open. I’m glad there’s a crack in my floor.”
 
Then he fell asleep, to dream that he had been captured by the men on the floor below, who were about to cast him into a fiery furnace for spying on them. He thought they grasped him by his183 head and his heels and were swinging him to cast him into the flames, when he woke up to find his mother shaking him and saying:
 
“Come, come, Larry. It’s almost breakfast time. You’ve overslept yourself.”
 
He got up with a jump and began dressing, glad enough that he was not going to be burned to death. He ate his breakfast in a hurry and had to run downstairs and halfway to the car, for fear of being behindhand.
 
However, he reached the office just in time. He had to put in another busy day. In the afternoon he was sent to a hall uptown, where a meeting was in progress and where one of the Leader reporters was on an assignment. Larry had to bring back some copy, but as the meeting was not very important only one trip was necessary.
 
The car Larry rode on in coming back to the office was quite crowded, and he stood on the rear platform. Near him were several rather flashily dressed young men, who were laughing and joking in loud tones. Occasionally they would playfully shove one another.
 
At first Larry paid no attention to them, but finally he noticed that the young men seemed to be directing their attentions to an elderly gentleman who stood in the corner, smoking a cigar. He was well dressed, and his vest was adorned with a heavy gold watch chain.
 
Suddenly one of the young men gave his companion184 such a hard push as to send him violently against the elderly gentleman. The latter’s face flushed.
 
“Can’t you chaps stand up straight?” he demanded.
 
The one who had collided with him seemed to be unable to regain his balance for a moment, and leaned heavily against the old man. Finally, however, he straightened up. Then, turning to the elderly gentleman, and making a bow as he removed his hat he said:
 
“I humbly beg your pardon, sir. I was not aware that I had hurt you. It was my companion’s fault. I am sure he’ll apologize also.”
 
“Certainly, certainly,” exclaimed the other somewhat flippantly. “It was all my fault, I do assure you, and I am very sorry.”
 
“That’s all right,” said the elderly man, much mollified at the polite manner of the young men. “I suppose it was an accident. The car sometimes lurches considerably.”
 
“No, no, it was not an accident, it was all my fault, and I insist on apologizing,” went on the man who had first spoken. “I shall feel offended if you do not let me apologize.”
 
All this while Larry noticed that the young man’s hands seemed to be busy in the neighborhood of the old gentleman’s watch chain. His companion was crowding close to the latter, while a third man, who did not seem to be in company185 of the other two, but who was apparently engaged in reading a newspaper, held the sheet close u............