"Say!" broke in Fred, as a thought came to him like a flash of lightning, "I bet I know who the robbers were."
All eyes were turned on him in surprise.
"It was two tramps that I saw round here a few days ago," continued Fred. "A lot of us fellows were in Sam Perkins" barn, and we heard the tramps talking. They didn"t see us, but we saw them. We couldn"t hear all they said, but I did hear them say something about an "apple tree"
and "side window" and something being "dead easy." I"d forgotten all about it till just now. But there"s the apple tree and the side window, and that must have been what they were talking about."
"By gum, it wuz!" a.s.sented Hi. "Tell us what the fellers looked like."
"One of them was a good deal taller than the other," said Fred, trying to recall their appearance. "They were both ragged and dirty. And, oh, yes! the tall one had a scar up near his temple, as if he had been stabbed there some time."
"Well," commented Hi, "that may help a lot. We know now what we"ve got to look for. I"ll telephone all along the line to the other towns to be on the lookout for them, and some of us will hitch up and drive along the different roads. They can"t have got very far, and we may get "em yet."
Later on, as the boys were on their way home, Jim chuckled.
"What are you laughing about, Jim?" asked Bob.
"I was just thinking," Jim replied, "that it was mighty lucky they didn"t ask Fred how he happened to be in Sam Perkins" barn."
CHAPTER XII
OFF FOR RALLY HALL
As Teddy had clearly foreseen, all that had happened before was as nothing, when Uncle Aaron learned that his cherished watch was gone, probably forever.
He stormed and raged and wondered aloud what he had done that he should be saddled with such a graceless nephew. It was in vain that Mr. Rushton offered to make good the money loss.
"It isn"t a matter of money," he shouted. "I"ve had that watch so long that it had come to be to me like a living thing. I wouldn"t have taken a dozen watches in exchange for it. Big fool that I was ever to come to Oldtown."
All the amateur detective methods of the village constable ended in nothing. And as day after day pa.s.sed without news, it began to be accepted as a settled fact that the culprits would never be found.
One happy day, however, came to lighten the gloom of Uncle Aaron. And that was the day that the Rushton boys said good-by to Oldtown and started for Rally Hall.
"Thank fortune," he said to himself, "they"re going at last! A little longer and I"d be bankrupt or crazy, or both."
But if Uncle Aaron was delighted to have them go, n.o.body else shared that feeling, except Jed Muggs.
That worthy was in high glee, as he drove up to the Rushton home on that eventful morning, to take them and their trunks to the railroad station at Carlette.
Although he had made a pretty good thing, in a money way, out of the accident, charging Mr. Rushton a great deal more than would have made up the damage, he had by no means forgiven Teddy for the fright and the shock he had suffered on that occasion. The Fourth of July incident of the painted horses, of which he firmly--and rightly--believed Teddy to have been the author, also still "stuck in his crop."
The old coach and horses swung up to the gate, and Fred and Teddy came out. They had had a private parting with their parents, and now the whole family, including Bunk, had come out on the veranda to see them off.
Mr. Rushton was grave and thoughtful. Mrs. Rushton was smiling bravely and trying to hide her tears. Uncle Aaron looked perfectly resigned. Old Martha was blubbering openly.
The trunks were strapped on and the boys jumped inside the coach. Jed climbed to the driver"s seat, chirruped to his horses and they were off amid a chorus of farewells.
Those left behind waved to them until they were out of sight. But in the last glimpse that the boys had of the old home, they saw that their mother was sobbing on her husband"s shoulder, while Martha"s ap.r.o.n was over her face.
They themselves were more deeply stirred than they cared to show, and for some time they were very quiet and thoughtful.
They chanced to be the only pa.s.sengers that morning, and Jed, having no one else to talk to, turned his batteries on them.
"So you"re goin" to leave us, be you?" he remarked, chewing meditatively on a straw.
"Yes," answered Teddy, the light of battle coming into his eyes, "and we hate to tear ourselves away from you, Jed. You"ve always been such a good pal of ours."
"It breaks us all up to leave you," chimed in Fred, "and we wouldn"t do it if it weren"t absolutely necessary. I don"t know how you are going to get along without us."
"A heap sight better than I ever got along with yer!" snapped out Jed.
"I won"t be lyin" awake nights now, wonderin" what rascality you kids will be cookin" up next."
"And this is all the thanks we get for trying to make things pleasant for you all these years!" exclaimed Teddy, in mock despair.
"The more you do for some people, the less they think of you," and Fred shook his head mournfully.
"I tell you young scalawags one thing, and that ain"t two," Jed came back at them. "Ef it hadn"t be"n fer me, you two might be behind the bars this blessed minit.
"I ain"t never writ ter the gover"ment yit, about you interferin" with the United States mail," he went on magnanimously. "Yer pa and ma is nice folks an" I don"t want ter make no trouble fer them. Perhaps I oughtn"t ter hush the matter up, me bein", as yer might say, a officer of the gover"ment when I"m carryin" the mails"--here his chest expanded--"an" maybe the hull matter will come out yet and make a big scandal at Washington. Yer actually busted up gover"ment prope"ty. That padlock on the mail bag wuz bent so that I had ter git a new one----"
"Yes," interrupted Fred, "father said that he paid you a dollar for that."
"I"ve seen those same padlocks on sale in the store for twenty-five cents," added Teddy.
"That"s neither here nur there," said Jed hastily. "The nub of the hull thing is that if it hadn"t been fer me, yer might be doin" the lock step in Atlanta or Leavenworth, or some other of them gover"ment jails. How would yer like that, eh? And wearin" stripes, an" nuthin" but mush and merla.s.ses fer breakfast, an" guards standin" around with guns, an"----"
But what other dismal horrors might have been conjured up by Jed will never be known, as at that moment they came up alongside the railroad station at Carlette, and more pressing things demanded his attention.
"Great Scott, Teddy!" exclaimed Fred, as they jumped down, "the whole gang is here!"
Sure enough, it seemed as though all the juvenile population of Oldtown had turned out to give them a royal send-off.
They ran up to the boys with a shout.
"It"s bully of you fellows to walk all this distance to say good-by,"
said Fred, and Teddy echoed him.
"We"d have come up to the house," explained Bob Ellis, "but we knew you"d have a whole lot to say to your own folks, and we didn"t want to b.u.t.t in."
"We"re all dead sore at your leaving the town," said Jim. "It won"t seem like the same old place with you fellows out of it."
There was a general chorus of a.s.sent to this from the other boys.
"We hate to leave the old crowd, too," said Fred. "But, of course, we"ll be back at holidays and vacation times. I only wish you fellows were going along with us."
"That would be great," agreed Jack. "But no such luck for us."