Encyclopedia Brown and the case of the midnight visitor by 1924- Donald J. Sobol, Lillian Brandi Page B

best yo-yo stolen. I'd be worth a lot of money, besides."
    "All that is your mother's fault?"
    "Well, not really," admitted Elmo. "She just doesn't understand what it takes to be a yo-yo champ. You can't sit back. You have to keep your hand and eye sharp to stay in the big time. You follow me?"
    "Keep talking, and maybe I'll catch up," said Encyclopedia.
    "Last week I broke a lamp in the living room doing a loop-the-loop," said Elmo. "This morning I was in the kitchen practicing round-the-corner when Mom tripped over the string. Her breakfast went flying."
    "She said something to you," guessed Encyclopedia.

    '*And how. She told me I'd have to practice outdoors. That was mean. It's daylight outdoors."
    "You noticed?" said Encyclopedia, blinking.
    *'I'd planned to work today in the basement with my number-one yo-yo. It glows in the dark," said Elmo. ''But I made the best of things. I went outside and put a blanket over my head."
    Encyclopedia could scarcely wait to hear what was coming next.
    "I was getting pretty good under the blanket," said Elmo. "No fancy stuff like three-leaf-clover or man-on-the-flying-trapeze. Just lots of fast zzizz thwopl —till Bugs Meany kicked my backside."
    "Oh, boy," said Encyclopedia. "Bugs shows up wherever there is trouble."
    Bugs Meany was the leader of a gang of tough older boys. They called themselves the Tigers. They should have called themselves the Taffee Twisters. They were always pulling something crooked.
    "After Bugs kicked me, he yanked off the blanket and begged my pardon," recalled Elmo. "He said he thought I was an

    ''Bugs Meany kicked my backside while I was practicing my glow-in-the-dark yo-yo" said Elmo.

    Arab. He took my yo-yo and put it in his pocket and asked me my name.
    " 'Elmo Thomas/ I said.
    '*Bugs laughed. 'Go buy yourself a last name,' he said, and flipped me a penny."
    ''He bought your best yo-yo for one cent?" exclaimed Encyclopedia. "No wonder you're sore."
    "Forget the yo-yo," said Elmo. "The penny was dated 1864, and it's worth more than a hundred dollars. Bugs must have seen the look on my face right away. He took back the penny and kept the yo-yo."
    Elmo put a quarter on the gas can beside Encyclopedia.
    "I want to hire you," he said. "Get back the penny. I figure it belongs to me."
    "So do I," said Encyclopedia. "If I know Bugs, he'll have hidden the yo-yo, but he won't let the penny out of his sight. C'mon."
    The two boys hurried to the Tigers' clubhouse, an unused tool shed behind Mr. Sweeny's Auto Body shop. The clubhouse was empty.
    "When Bugs celebrates a crooked deal,

    he usually goes to Friedman's Delicatessen for a hot dog and root beer," Encyclopedia said. "The sauerkraut is free. He's probably there now."
    Encyclopedia was correct. Bugs stood at the relish counter. He had piled sauerkraut two inches high on his hot dog and roll and was smearing mustard on top with a wooden spoon.
    "Make like a rattlesnake and bite yourself to death," he growled as the boy detective came up.
    Encyclopedia was used to Bugs's warm greeting. "You stole the penny you paid Elmo for his yo-yo this morning. Give it back."
    ''Elmo? Who's Elmo?" gasped Bugs, looking around.
    "Me, you big bully!" said Elmo.
    "Man, oh, man!" cried Bugs. "I never saw this child in my life. I was out in the woods all morning studying woodpeckers to find out why they don't get headaches."
    He walked toward a table and sat down. Encyclopedia and Elmo followed.
    Bugs leaned over and tightened the lace on his right shoe. He bit into his hot dog

    and chewed, his mouth barely able to close. Then he took a drink of root beer.
    *'Go on, scram," he said. 'I'm eating." He shifted under Encyclopedia's stare and tapped his right foot nervously. "Say, maybe you'd like to search me?"
    '*Nope," said Encyclopedia.
    Bugs shrugged and finished his drink. He tossed the paper cup into a trash can ten feet away.
    **rm going for another soda," he announced. ''Be useful and watch my hot dog while I'm gone."
    He