"Whin the fog"s so thick ye c"ud cut it with a knife," put in Gerald. "Give us a diagram av it."
"Why, the robbery was done by Rae and some of his pals," explained Jack. "They sent Monkey up between the buildings and he opened the window and got in and then opened the doors for the others. When they got through all they had to do was to walk out, and Monkey closed and fastened the doors after them and went down the same way as he got in."
"But how do you know that Rae did it?" asked Rand.
"By putting two and two together," replied Jack. "I knew that the coins you found were like some that had been stolen. Monkey Rae and Sam went over the road just before you found them. They had not been lying there long, or they would have been covered up in the dirt, or some one else would have found them."
""Tis no way impossible," admitted Donald.
"Then some of the tools they used had been taken from Wilson"s blacksmith shop, and you know d.i.c.k said that Monkey and Sam used to come in there almost every day, so that it was quite probable that they took them; that"s number two."
"Go on," urged Rand. "It is growing interesting."
"Well, there isn"t much more; but I saw, from this circular, that Rae had escaped from prison, so I concluded that the man we saw in the boat was Rae, and I put the two and two together and worked it out that it was he who robbed the judge"s office."
"What was he after?" asked Pepper.
"I don"t know exactly," replied Jack; "but it was papers of some kind."
"Well, it does look as if you were right," conceded Donald; "but you haven"t got any proof."
"No," admitted Jack; "but I have given the officer the tip, and told him about the shack in the woods where Pepper saw Rae. They are going to make a raid on it tomorrow, and perhaps they will find some of the stolen property in their possession; then we have the impression of a hand on this paper, and we can get one of Monkey"s hands and see if they aren"t the same."
"Faith, hunting is wan thing and finding"s anither," commented Gerald.
Which proved to be quite true in this case, for when the officers reached the cabin in the woods they found it deserted and dismantled.
The occupants had evidently taken alarm and disappeared, leaving no trace, although the boys were destined to meet them again under decidedly unpleasant circ.u.mstances.
CHAPTER XXII
THE RACE
The race had been set for 9 o"clock in the morning, but, with the sun, there had come up a strong breeze from the west that had stirred up the water into such a lumpy condition that any kind of time would be impossible, and the advantage would be all on the side of the Altons. So the race was put off from time to time in the hope that the wind would die down so as to equalize the chances, and it was not until late in the afternoon that the committee decided to have it rowed, although the wind was still blowing and the water rough.
The course, as agreed upon, was a straight-away three miles over a clear stretch of the river from off the Creston landing.
"What have you got there?" asked d.i.c.k, as Rand pulled a coin from his pocket and began rubbing it up on his sleeve.
"That"s his mascot," laughed Jack. "It"s the coin he found in the road, and he keeps it for luck."
"Well, I guess it has its work cut out for it, all right," went on d.i.c.k. "He will have his hands full--if it is a he--to keep us in the procession. Alton has a crew of blacksmiths."
"So much the more weight to carry," replied Rand, who made the best of everything.
"Not much chance for us," put in Jack.
"Oh, I don"t know," returned Rand.
""Stranger things than that have happened," as the old woman said when she kissed her cow."
"You mean as the man said when he married his cook," corrected Donald.
"Well, there wasn"t anything strange about that," returned Rand, "if she was a good cook."
"Or if her cooking was good," added Jack.
"Are you ready, all?" now called the starter, and each one of the different crews grasped his oar with quickened tension as the c.o.xswains responded: "Ready!" and there followed the sharp report of the pistol.
As the report rang out the oars of the three crews, all like a piece of accurate machinery, struck the water at the same instant and the boats leaped forward as if shot from a spring.
At the start the weight of the Alton crew told, and their boat darted to the front, only to be hugged a moment later by Highpoint, while the Uncas trailed just behind them.
"Easy, boys, easy," cautioned Gerald. "There are three miles of it, you know."
The three boats were all together. Alton a bit in the lead, but without any daylight showing between them. The Uncas last, but still in the race.
"Shure, "tis foine, ye"r doing," cried Gerald. "Ye have thim all scared. See how they are running away from ye!"
For the first mile there was no change, Alton still leading, but the pace was telling, and Highpoint was creeping up--Uncas still in the rear.
In the next mile there was still no change in the order, and it looked like Alton"s race, but as the second mile was pa.s.sed Highpoint poked its nose in front, Uncas still hugging them. "Now, then!"
cried Gerald, as they entered on the last half mile, "hit it up, boys; we are still in it!"
"The mascot"s working overtime," panted d.i.c.k, "but he"s making good."
The boys quickened their stroke in response to Gerald"s call, and inch by inch, the Uncas pulled up on their rivals and, just as the finish was reached, slid across the line a scant six inches in front. It was only six inches, but enough, and though the boys could scarce sit up, their fatigue was forgotten in the joy of the unexpected victory.
"Tra-la-la," trilled Gerald on his bugle, but its notes were drowned by the call of the leader of the Highpoints for three cheers for the Uncas, which were given with a will by both the losing crews.
After cheering each other, until they were hoa.r.s.e, the three crews went their ways with an agreement to row another race later in the season.
"That"s one for the mascot," drawled Rand, when the boat had been rowed to the landing, where the colonel, with Pepper and others, were waiting for them.
"Well, boys," said the colonel, after he had congratulated them on their victory, "you look as if you had been doing a day"s work on a farm."
"Well, I don"t know," responded Rand. "It was hard work, but I think, after all, I had rather be the man with the row than the man with the hoe."
"That reminds me--" began d.i.c.k.
"It does, eh?" questioned Donald. "Well, I don"t know why, I am sure."
"That, speaking of roses--" went on d.i.c.k.
"Roses!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Jack. "Who said anything about roses?"