"It ain't so—I never teched his cat, nor his dog nuther!" roared old Ricks. "He's a blamed fool, he is!"
"Hush! hush!" whispered Tom, solemnly. "Don't speak so harshly of the dead."
"Dead!" exclaimed the startled Ricks. "Who's dead?"
"Didn't you know he was found on the railroad tracks dead?" asked the fun-loving Rover. "Of course they say you let the freight train run over him. But we know you wouldn't be so wicked, Mr. Ricks."
"Dead? On the tracks? Me let the train run over him?" half-whispered the stationmaster. "I—I—didn't do it! Say, this is awful! Who told you this?"
"Haven't you read the newspapers?" asked Dick.
"That comes for being too stingy to buy a morning paper," added Sam.
"Of course the local papers didn't dare to print the truth," said Tom. "But you'll find a full account in the New York Blizzard and the Philadelphia Bazoo. Your picture on the front page, too, entitled, 'Did He Do It, or Did He Did It Not.'"
"Say, I ain't done nuthin', I tell ye!" almost shouted old Ricks, who was too excited to realize
