"The worst of it is," said Frank slowly, "that the case looks pretty bad against Mr. Robinson."
"You don't think they'll send him to the penitentiary?"
"It looks bad. The thief said he hid the stuff in the old tower. When we looked for it, the stuff wasn't there. About the only person that could have found it and taken it away, was Mr. Robinson himself."
"He wouldn't do it!" declared Iola indignantly.
"We're sure he wouldn't. But a jury mightn't be so easy to convince."
It was time to go into school at that moment and they went to their classrooms, Frank and Joe deeply worried by what they had just heard. At recess that morning they met Jerry, Phil, Tony and Chet Morton, and told them the news. All the boys were highly concerned over this sudden turn in events.
"This will be tough on Perry," said Phil.
"It'll be tough on the whole family," Chet declared. "They've had enough trouble over this dirty affair as it is."
The boys discussed the situation from all angles and racked their brains for some way whereby they could help the Robinsons, but they were reluctantly forced to admit that only by actual discovery of the hidden loot could
