"So the villain managed to escape, did he?" ruminated Joe. "That's a black mark against the warden, and it's no wonder he's anxious to get him back. I'd hate to be in Ca.s.sey's shoes if the prison gates ever close on him again."

"You'd think it would be a comparatively easy matter to capture him,"

suggested Herb. "The fact that he stutters so badly makes him a marked man."

"You can bet that he doesn't do any more talking than he can help,"

replied Joe. "And, for that matter, I suppose there are a good many thousand stutterers in the United States. Almost every town has one or more. Of course it's against him, but it doesn't by any means make it a sure thing that he'll be nabbed."

Buck Looker and his cronies happened to pa.s.s them in the yard just at that moment and caught the last word. Buck whispered something to Carl Lutz, and the latter broke out into uproarious laughter.

It was so obviously directed against Joe that his impulsive temper took fire at once. He stepped up to the trio, despite Bob's outstretched hand that tried to restrain him.

"Were you fellows laughing at me?" he asked of the three, though his eyes were fastened directly on Buck's.

"Not especially at you," returned Buck insolently. "But at something you said."

"And what was that?" asked Joe, coming a step nearer, at which Buck stepped back a trifle.

"About getting nabbed," he said. "It made me think of some fellows I know that were nabbed last night for breaking windows."

"Oh, that was it!" remarked Joe, with dangerous calmness while his fist clenched. "Now let me tell you what it reminds me of. It makes me think of three cowards who smashed a window last night with a stone packed in a s...o...b..ll and then ran away as fast as their legs could carry them.

Perhaps you'd like me to tell you their names?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," retorted Buck, changing color.

"Oh, yes, you do," replied Joe. "And while I'm about it, I'll add that the fellows who smashed the window were not only cowards, but worse. And their names are Buck Looker, Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney."

"What's that?" cried Buck, bristling up, while an angry growl arose from his cronies.

"You heard me the first time," replied Joe; "but to get it into your thick heads I'll say it again. The cowards, and worse, I referred to are named Buck Looker, Carl Lutz and Terry Mooney."

CHAPTER V

MARVELS OF WIRELESS

"That's fighting talk," bl.u.s.tered Buck, as he made a pretense of getting ready to throw off his coat.

"That's precisely what I want it to be," declared Joe, as he tore off his coat and threw it to the ground.

By this time most of the boys in the school yard had sensed the tenseness of the situation and had gathered around Joe and Buck, forming a ring many lines deep.

"A fight!" was the cry.

"Go in, Joe!"

"Soak him, Buck!"

Before Joe's determined att.i.tude and flashing eyes, Buck wavered. He fingered his coat uncertainly and glanced toward the school windows.

"There's one of the teachers looking out," he declared. "And it's against the rules to fight on the school grounds. If it wasn't for that I'd beat you up."

There was a general snicker from the boys at Buck Looker's sudden regard for the rules of the school.

"Any other place you can think of where you'd like to beat me up?" said Joe sarcastically. "How about this afternoon after school down by the river?"

"I----I've got to go out of town this afternoon," Buck stammered. "But don't you worry. I'll give you all the fight you're looking for the first chance I get."

Murmurs of derision arose from the crowd, and the flush on the bully's sour face grew much deeper.

"You're just a yellow dog, Buck!" exclaimed Joe, in disgust. "Have I got to pull your nose to make you stand up to me?"

He advanced toward him, and Buck retreated. What would have happened next will never be known, for just at that moment one of the teachers emerged from the school and came toward the ring. Hostilities at the moment were out of the question, and the boys began to scatter. Buck heaved a sigh of evident relief, and now that he felt himself safe, all his old bl.u.s.ter came back to him.

"It's mighty lucky for you that Bixby came out just then," he declared.

"I was just getting ready to thrash you within an inch of your life."

Joe laughed sarcastically.

"The trouble with you, Buck, is that you spend so much time getting ready that you never have any time for real fighting," he remarked. "It took you an awfully long time to get your coat unb.u.t.toned."

"They laugh best who laugh last," growled Buck. "And don't forget that you fellows have got to pay for that gla.s.s you broke."

"You've got another guess coming," replied Joe. "You or one of your gang broke that gla.s.s and we can prove it."

"I wasn't downtown that night at all," said Buck glibly.

"Don't add any more lies to your score," said Joe scornfully. "We've got you! You and your gang are the only fellows in town who would put stones in s...o...b..a.l.l.s, anyway."

"If that's all the evidence you've got, it wouldn't go far in a court of law," sneered Buck. "Any judge would see that you were trying to back out of it by putting it up to somebody else."

"Perhaps you don't know that Mr. Talley b.u.mped into you while you were running away," remarked Joe.

This shot told, for Buck had banked on the darkness and had forgotten all about his encounter with Mr. Talley. He had been nursing the comfortable a.s.surance that all he had to do was to deny. Now his house of cards had come tumbling about his ears. Mr. Talley was a respected citizen, and his word would be accepted by everybody.

Joe saw the effect of his remark and smiled drily.

"Want to revise that statement of yours that you weren't downtown at all last night?" he asked, with affected politeness.

"He--he was mistaken," stammered Buck weakly, as he walked away, followed by his discomfited cronies.

"I guess that will hold him for a while," chuckled Jimmy, as the radio boys watched his retreating figure.

Two or three days pa.s.sed without special developments. The broken pane of gla.s.s had been restored and the parents of the boys had been formally notified by the insurance company that they would be held responsible jointly for the damages. A similar notice had been sent to the fathers of Buck and his mates.

Mr. Looker replied, denying that his son was at all implicated in the matter and refusing to pay. Mr. Layton admitted that his son had been throwing s...o...b..a.l.l.s in front of the store on the night in question, but he stated that he had not thrown the ball with a stone in it that broke the window. He added that any further communication regarding the matter could be sent to his lawyer.