THE NEOTOMAS, OR PACK RATS 27 



among the sticks and picked out the shining 

 article. It was one of his cuff-links! "How on 

 earth did that ever get here?" he said to him- 

 self. Could this be the hiding-place where the 

 camp robber was secreting his treasure? He 

 picked up a stick and stirred further into the 

 pile. A great, big-eared rat ran out of the stack. 

 As he stirred up the mass of twigs further and 

 came to the inside of the nest, he found a small 

 box of medicine which he had claimed one of 

 the men had stolen only the night before. 

 What could it all mean ! He picked up the box 

 and ran to the shanty and urged the accused to 

 come and see for himself what he had found. 

 The men, who were at the house, were curious 

 and suspicious at first, and all refused to have 

 anything further to say, but finally they de- 

 cided to go out and see what was up. They 

 even began to delve into the mass of sticks 

 themselves. And every time they turned the 

 pile they found more of the missing treasures. 

 They looked at each other in astonishment and 

 more or less shamefacedly, and then finally 

 ridiculouely, as they realized the amazing 

 ludicrousness of the situation. Could it be that 



