He was not molested; the other five were too busy preparing for the bath.
"The water"s great to-day!" shouted d.i.c.k, rising and "blowing"
after a shallow dive from a tree trunk at the sh.o.r.e.
In a moment they were all in the water.
"Come on! Follow your leader!" shouted Tom Reade, striking out l.u.s.tily upstream.
"Come back and give us a handicap!" roared Dave. "How do you expect us to catch you when you get the lead over us with your long legs and arms?"
But Tom dived under water, swimming there. The others followed suit, each remaining under as long as possible, for, in this "stunt,"
there was no way of knowing when the leader came up. Tom remained under less than fifteen seconds. Then, showing his head, and with rapid overhand strokes he made for the nearer bank, slipping ash.o.r.e and hiding behind some bushes.
It was Hazy who had to come up first after Tom.
"Whew! Tom must have met someone he knows on the bottom," called Harry, as Greg"s head rose above the surface.
Dave came up next, then d.i.c.k, and then Dan.
"Tom ought to be a fish!" uttered Darrin admiringly. "I stayed under water as long as I could."
Yet after going a few yards further up stream d.i.c.k Prescott turned, gazing anxiously down stream.
"Fellows," he suggested, "something must have happened to old Tom."
"Or else he"s playing a joke on us," hinted Danny Grin, suspiciously.
"It"s some joke to remain under water four times as long as the average swimmer can do it," retorted Prescott.
"But Tom may not be under water," spoke up Greg.
"He didn"t have time to get anywhere else," Dave declared.
"It may be a joke, but I don"t want to take any chances," d.i.c.k said earnestly. "Let"s go down stream. Spread out, and every now and then bob under and take as near a look at the bottom as you can."
"It doesn"t look right," Dave admitted as they all started back.
Several times they went under water, the best swimmers among them getting close to bottom. So they continued on down the stream for some distance.
"Now, all together. Go under water all at the same time," ordered d.i.c.k.
Below the surface of the river they went. One after another their heads presently appeared above the surface once more.
"Have you fellows lost anything?" quizzed Reade, suddenly appearing on the bank.
"That"s what I call a mean trick on us!" cried Dave, flushing slightly.
"You fellows were in for a swim, weren"t you?" Reade drawled.
"You have been having it."
With that he took to the water himself. There was something so jovial and harmless about Reade that, despite their recent anxiety concerning him, they made no effort to duck him.
"The water is fine this morning," called Tom presently, as they all swam about.
"Then why didn"t you stay in?" demanded Darry rather cuttingly.
"Say, I"m beginning to feel glad that I waited breakfast for the swim," Reade announced.
"Stick to the truth!" mocked d.i.c.k.
"But I really am beginning to feel that a little exercise is the best course before breakfast," Tom declared.
"The next thing we hear," scoffed Hazy, "you"ll be telling us that you really don"t want any breakfast."
"I"ll tell you fellows what I"ll do," Tom called. "I"ll agree to put off eating until noon if you"ll all stick to the idea."
But that suggestion did not prove popular.
"I mean it," Reade insisted. "I hardly care, now, whether I eat any breakfast or not."
"What"s that noise below? Come on!" called Prescott, landing and running along the bank. Tom was close behind him, the others following.
In their search for Tom they had gotten farther away from the wagon than they realized. During their brief absence from the spot two tramps had come upon the camp wagon and the piles of discarded clothing. It was plain that the wagon contained all that was needed for several meals---and the tramps were hungry.
Yet the only safe way to enjoy that food would be to partake of it at a safe distance from the rightful owners.
For that reason, after a few whispered words, the tramps hastily gathered up all the clothing of the high school swimmers, dumping it in the wagon. Then they mounted to the seat.
Just as d.i.c.k Prescott and his chums broke from cover they beheld the tramps in the act of driving from the woods out on the road.
Once in the road the tramps urged the horse to a gallop. It was out of the question for the boys, clad as they were in only swimming trunks to pursue the thieves.
"I---I---take back all I said about not wanting any breakfast!"
gasped Tom Reade, turning to his dismayed chums.
CHAPTER VII
MAKING THE TRAMPS SQUIRM
"You come back here!" screamed Danny Grin desperately.
"Haven"t time now," called one of the tramps jeeringly, while his companion laid the whip over the startled horse.
With such a start as the tramps had they might be able to drive a mile ere the running boys could overtake them.