"Do you suppose the game was tried on anybody else?" asked Sam.
"We have not heard of it."
Arriving at home, the boys were warmly greeted by their uncle and their aunt and also by the others around the house. Their aunt had a hot supper awaiting them, and while they ate this the whole subject of the missing bonds was thoroughly discussed. The boys learned that a private detective was still on the trail of Merrick and Pike, but so far had reported nothing of importance.
"I believe those rascals,—or at least Merrick—must belong around Lake Cayuga," observed Dick. "Otherwise we shouldn't have seen Merrick in Ithaca and up at the Stanhope place."
"I was very simple to let them get the best of me. The next time I shall be more careful," said Randolph Rover.
The boys learned from Jack Ness that hunting in the woods back of the farm was good, and two days before Christmas they went out with the hired man. They went for rabbits and squirrels, and each took his shotgun along and a substantial lunch, for they expected to be out the greater part of the day.
It was clear, cold weather, the sun glistening brightly on the snow. They journeyed directly for a portion of the woods they knew was a fa-
