“Better send for him,” advised Mr. Hardy. “I’d like to ask him a few questions.”

Mr. Applegate rang for one of the servants and instructed him to tell Mr. Robinson he was wanted in the library at once. Mr. Hardy glanced at the boys.

“You had better wait in the hallway,” he suggested. “I want to ask some questions, and it might embarrass Mr. Robinson if you were here.”

The lads readily withdrew, and in the hallway they met Henry Robinson, the caretaker, and his son Perry. Mr. Robinson was calm but pale, and at the doorway he patted his son on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, son,” he said. “It’ll be all right.” With that he entered the library.

Slim Robinson turned to his two chums.

“My dad is innocent!” he cried.

The Arrest

There was something in Perry Robinson’s tone that made Frank and Joe extremely sorry for their chum, for it seemed that the boy realized that the case looked black against his father.

Although the Hardy lads realized that it was only natural that Perry should stand up for his father, they shared some of his conviction that Mr. Robinson was not guilty.

“Of course he’s innocent,” agreed Frank. “He’ll be able to clear himself all right, Perry.”

“But everything looks pretty black against him,” said Perry, who was pale and shaken. “Unless your father can catch the real thief I’m afraid Dad will be blamed for it.”

“Everybody knows your father is honest,” said Joe consolingly. “He has a good record⁠—even Applegate will have to admit that.”

“A good record won’t help him very much if he is blamed for this and can’t clear himself. And Dad admits that he did know the combination of the safe.”

“He knew it?”

“Accidentally. He was cleaning the library fireplace one day when he found a slip of paper with numbers marked on it. The combination was so simple that anyone could remember it if he read it once. Dad didn’t realize what it was until he had studied it a while, and then he put it back on Mr. Applegate’s desk. The window was open and the breeze had blown the paper to the floor.”

“Does Applegate know that?”

“Not yet. But Dad is going to tell him now. He says he knows it will look bad for him, but he’s going to tell the truth about it. He knew the combination, although of course he would never think of using it.”

From the library came the dull hum of voices. The harsh tones of Hurd Applegate occasionally rose above the murmur of conversation and once the boys heard Mr. Robinson’s voice rise sharply.

“I didn’t do it. I tell you I didn’t take that money.”

“Then where did you get the nine hundred you paid on that note?” demanded Mr. Applegate.

There was silence for a while.

“Where did you get it?”

“I’m not at liberty to tell you.”