socket. It made a rasping sound, but this was not noticed by the two men, who were conversing earnestly.
"Well, we made a mess of it," growled the man called Shelley.
"So we did. But I didn't think that hired man would wake up. Neither of us made a bit of noise. He must be a light sleeper."
"I only hope they think we were after chickens, Cuffer. If they knew the truth" The man named Shelley broke off with a coarse laugh.
"Well, we got chickens the other night, didn't we?" and now the man called Cuffer laughed also. "But say, this is getting serious," he went on presently. "Merrick expects us to do this job for him and do it quick, and he won't like it at all when he finds out how we have missed it."
"We can't do the impossible. Those Rovers are too wideawake for us."
"They certainly were too wideawake for Merrick in that traction company bond matter. He was a chump not to sell those bonds as soon as he got hold of them."
"He didn't dare—he was afraid the market was being watched."
"What does he want of those papers, anyway?"
"I don't know exactly. But you know what he
