The boys looked at each other. What was to be done? At length Tom hit upon the simplest plan. It was no doubt their chair, he explained, and he told how it had disappeared. They could recover it by process of law, he went on, when Mr. Rosenkranz evinced a desire to hold it, but they would pay a reasonable price for it.
"Mind you, only to get it back in a hurry, though," declared Tom, "for it's ours by right But I think it will be a lucky hunch for the football team, if we get it before the big game with Boxer Hall Saturday. So, Mr. Rosenkranz, how much do you want for it?"
The dealer named a preposterous sum, but the boys were shrewd, and beat him down. Finally, when he had admitted that the chair was not likely to sell soon, because it was in poor repair, he consented to part with it for a reasonable sum. He confirmed what the Yankee dealer had said, that he had acquired it in a trade.
"Well, we'll take it," said Tom, passing over the money. "Now, how can we get it home?"
It was rather a problem, as the chair was big and clumsy, and they were quite a distance from Randall. But finally, on payment of a further small sum, the dealer offered to deliver it to the college.
"It doesn't seem possible that we've got it," said Tom, as they were on their way back that
