"Then the burglar did it," decided Bud. "And it shows we have to
deal with a regular gang of safe robbers, instead of just
ordinary cattle rustlers!"




CHAPTER V

THE BROKEN BOTTLE


Bud's opinion, expressed with such conviction, coupled with the
fact that Nell, his sister, was sure the safe had not been
scratched the day before the robbery, made it look as though men
practiced in the evil art of burglary had been at work.

"When I saw the fellow, bending over my safe," said Mr. Merkel,
"it appeared to me he was only trying to work the combination. I
have a hard job, myself, remembering how to do it, account of the
safe being a new one. And I was so surprised, at first, that I
just stood there, like a locoed steer, watching him. Then I let
out a yell, told him to throw his hands up, and things began to
happen."

"But, instead of just trying to open your safe, by working the
combination, same as I've heard of burglars doing by filing down
their fingers with sandpaper to make 'em sensitive, he was
getting ready to blow it open," declared Bud.