man."

"Nothing suspicious or wonderful in that," commented Tom. "I've often
run into people."

"Wait," advised Ned. "To save myself from falling I grabbed the man's
arm. He did the same to me, and there we stood, for a moment, right
under a gas lamp. I looked down at his hands, and I saw that on the
little finger of the left one there was tattooed a blue ring, and-"

"Happy Harry-the tramp!" exclaimed Tom, now much excited. "That's
where he wears a tattooed ring!"

"That's what I thought you had told me," resumed Ned, "but I didn't
pay any attention to it at the time, as I had no idea that the men
were out of jail."

"Well, what else happened?" inquired Tom

"Not much more. I apologized to the man, and he to me, and we let go
of each other."

"Are you sure about the ring on his finger?"

"Positive. His hand was right in the light. But wait, that isn't all.
I hurried on, not thinking much about it, when, I saw another man step
out of the dark shadows of Peterby's grocery, just beyond the bank.
The man must have mistaken me for some one else, for he spoke to me."

"What did he say?"