Graham B. Forbes

“ It being agreed among them, no other course suggesting itself to any of them, they fell silent while the Rocket headed straight for its boat-house on the Harrapin.
“Well,” said Paul, “I’ve enjoyed the day immensely, and we’ve learned more than we expected to when we started. Now, as to the outcome.”
“I feel that things will come out all right in the end,” Frank replied serenely. “There is a path that we must follow—the rules of right living demand that—and we shall merely follow that path. It runs straight, to say the least.” ”

“ The next sentence he could not hear, spoken so quietly as it was—and he moved, stealthily, every nerve keenly applied to getting closer unseen and unheard.
“If we get there to-night and load it all in suitcases we can make a getaway before any one is the wiser,” said one of the voices.
A grunt was the only response, and the two stood there smoking in perfect silence while Frank Allen’s ears were turned to catch every sound. ”

“ It is not a simple thing to be told, without warning of any kind, to be told with words that come as scathingly and as relentlessly as a bolt of lightning from a stormless sky, that one’s father, beloved, is lying at death’s door and that one’s own action is the only possible thing which might save him to the contact of the worldly things. ”

“ With this all four of them trooped into the small farmhouse, and their nostrils were struck by the odors of dankness, of old coffee, of burned grease, showing that this ill-kept man did not permit the fresh air that nature so freely gave to every living being to pass through the house.
The beams of the flashlight darted here and there, and Frank handed his supply of matches to Lanky to use so that they could get a better light. ”

“ Frank Allen knew he did not dare go far down the river without lights, for the many islands in the river and the tortuous path it followed at times would put their own safety at risk, while anything that might be floating in the stream would be an additional risk. On top of all would be the risk to themselves and to others should they meet a motor boat or a rowboat coming upstream. ”

“ Time brings about a healing influence, and time also brings about a lack of watchfulness. Just so it was this night.
As the conversation between the boys went on, not spiritedly, but continuous nevertheless, Frank’s grip on the wheel was relaxed, though his eyes seemed never to leave the river ahead.
They came to a hairpin bend in the stream, one which was famous as a place for picnics on the point which jutted into the Harrapin. The searchlight, fixed ahead, swung around as Frank negotiated, or started to negotiate, the bend which he had never met before while in command of a craft. ”

“ Would the doctor fight for all he was worth while waiting for him, and would he succeed in staying the fatal moment until he could arrive to give his father one more chance at life?
All four of the boys stepped to the landing, Lanky taking the end of the rope to make it fast to the tie-stake.
“What’s the first move? Where do we find gas?” Paul asked.
“Let’s look around and see what we’ll do,” slowly said Frank. “I think the best thing is for you two fellows,” indicating Paul and Ralph, “to remain here and watch the boat. Lanky and I will scout around to find some gas. ”

“ Lanky turned and pointed to the upper part of the island, where old willows dropped and spread their branches down close to the water, entirely hiding the shoreline.
“All right. Since you think so, I move we eat our lunch under those trees. Let’s get where you think they were, and see what the outcome is.”
Frank put the Rocket hard over, and gradually brought it under the trees, though it was a close shave to make it fit under the low-hanging branches.
“Why, fellows,” cried Paul Bird, “even in the daytime this is a good hiding place. ”

“ Frank Allen and Lanky Wallace were out on the Harrapin river giving the regular daily try-out to the Rocket. Lanky’s father, after their return from a recent trip to the West, had presented Frank with this neat, little, rakish-modeled motor boat for three reasons: first, because he liked the upstanding leader of the Columbia boys and felt that his own son, Clarence (though Lanky was the name known best) [Pg 2] could be in no better company; second, because he was himself a lover of the great out-of-doors and felt that kinship to Frank which the outdoor life develops in men ”

“ At the moment there seemed to be no reason why Frank Allen should doubt the faithfulness of his motor, for it was running smoothly, hitting regularly, and had been responding to-day to its master’s touch. Which very fact was stated by Lanky Wallace.
“That’s all right, Lanky—what you say. But you heard me compare a gas engine to a mule, didn’t you? That is using other words to say that when [Pg 3] you think things are the smoothest is when they are getting ready to be the worst.” ”

“ Why not a signal?”
“Beg your pardon, captain,” called back Frank. “I didn’t see you soon enough. I thought the river was clear and did not slow down much to make this bend.”
“Go easy, boy,” answered the man at the wheel of the tug, as half a dozen faces showed up in the dim lights here and there on the sturdy craft. “Always take that bend same as you would in an auto. Can’t always tell about these roads.”
There was a heartiness about the voice that was reassuring to the boys on the Rocket’s deck—the heartiness that is so often met among sea-faring men. ”

“ As Frank came to the first of the several boats which were tied there, he looked through the gloom to see if there might be a can of gasoline aboard, carried as an extra for the sake of precaution.
The first boat was not so provided, nor was the second, and he wondered if Lanky were having the same sort of luck along his part of the wharf.
“But,” thought Frank, “its the law of averages, as the salesmen all say. That means that if we look into enough boats, provided there are enough boats tied up there, we’ll find a can of gas, or maybe a gas-tank filled that we can get at.” ”

“ Frank paid no heed to the two boys who now started bantering each other, all crouching low to the deck of the boat as it sped along.
“Lanky,” spoke up Frank after everything had grown quiet, “when we get to Columbia I’ll run up to the hospital, and I wish you’d get to police headquarters as quickly as you can, tell them the story of those fellows—where they are going and what we saw to-day. Tell them that the Rocket will see them through. And I wish Paul and Ralph would find some gasoline and fill up the tank.” ”

“ Paul and Ralph lay prone on their stomachs as far forward as they dared to go, while Lanky Wallace kept his place at the side of the cockpit where he could hear any word that Frank might utter.
Faster and faster went the Rocket. The speed was far beyond any expectation of Frank’s, the air rushing past his face causing his eyes to squint until they were almost closed, his hand now and then directing the searchlight to keep the path ahead well lighted. ”

“ By this time the two other men had rescued the box and had placed it on the deck forward.
“Do you think that raft of yours has any speed in it?” asked Cunningham sneeringly. “If you think so, I’ll give you a race any time you want it.”
“That’s exactly what I’ll be glad to do. Any time you say and where you say we’ll show you what a regular boat can do that doesn’t spend its time running other people down,” called Frank quite coolly.
“What’s that?” called Cunningham threateningly, getting out from the cockpit as the two boats lay alongside each other. ”

“ The boys fell to on the food with a will such as only hungry, manly, athletic fellows, can show. They attacked the sandwiches front and rear.
And, be it said in all truth right here, neither Frank nor Lanky, serious as they were in the matter gave any heed to further quest for clues or information of any sort until the food was devoured and the containers had been buried deep in the soil of the shore. ”

“ I am carrying on this hearing,” broke in the police chief.
“I just wish to remark,” Frank was not to be stopped, “that if the informant of Mr. Cunningham is no more reliable about any other information than he was about this, I cannot see that anything Mr. Cunningham can say will be of any value to you, Mr. Berry.”
“Do you mean to say that this information is not true?” asked the chief.
“I mean to say exactly that and nothing more. Now, Mr. Berry, this stranger, unknown to any one in town, comes in here and places before you some hearsay evidence that is not the truth. ”

“ Out into the stream the Speedaway was moving, the engine running in excellent shape.
“Get your boat and catch him!” cried the chief of police. “Men, watch those fellows close. Don’t let one of them get away. Shoot to kill if one of them starts. I’ll go with the boys to help ’em get off!”
Saying this, the chief pushed Frank roughly by the shoulder, and all five of them, the four boys and the chief, dashed through the weeds and brush along the bank of the river to the point where the Rocket was tied.
Out on the river they could plainly hear the put-put of an exhaust. They reached the Rocket. ”

“ Out of gas and trying to find some,” muttered Lanky Wallace.
Frank’s imaginings now were of the worst, though he tried to keep a stiff upper lip, and did so, thinking hard as to the best course to take. How long would they be in their quest for gas? What would this loss of time mean in the race for a life that he was making? Would his father, fighting for his [Pg 156] life back at the Columbia hospital, be strong enough to hold out until he could get back with the heart stimulant? ”

“ Before Frank could answer, before he could turn to make an investigation, the lean lad had dived past him to the fireplace, had stooped to the hearth, and a long arm was reaching far up the flue—on to the ledge which is formed at the top of all fireplaces, and out of there, covered with soot, bringing down a perfect storm of the black, sifting, fine powder, he brought a metal box! ”

“ Frank rehearsed the chance for trouble. “For instance, it is plain as can be that since we know where that silver is, it is our duty to see that, so soon as possible, it is returned to the rightful owner. If, through any fear on our part that we may not get right and just treatment, we permit the thieves to get away with it, we are accessories after the fact, aren’t we?”
The other boys nodded their assent to this statement.
“This very evening we could have retrieved every piece of the silver, and I haven’t the slightest doubt we could also have gotten that box of jewels. Why didn’t we?” ”

“ Paul Bird spoke up quietly, as he was standing near Frank at one time, “what do you say if [Pg 84] several of us go up there to-morrow to see if we can find anything.”
“That’s the idea! We know more to start with than any one else, and we ought to be able to find something, provided there is anything to be found,” Lanky put in.
“A lot of time has passed,” interposed Frank. “I am not opposed to the idea, but I am fearful that we won’t find anything that will be of benefit.”
“It certainly would be too late to hunt for any tracks of automobiles or anything of that kind,” said Buster. ”