“Broke jail! We never were in jail!”
“What? Ain’t ye th’ two men who escaped from Blissville jail last night?” demanded the constable.
“No!” fairly shouted Bart. “Can’t you count? There are four of us and mere boys, not men. The only place we broke from was the hold of the barge where they were keeping us prisoners, after we fell from the balloon!”
“Balloon!” exclaimed another man, coming forward from the crowd. “Are you th’ boys from Darewell th’ alarm has been sent out for? Went up in a balloon that broke away?”
“That’s who we are,” replied Fenn.
“By Heck! men, we’ve got th’ wrong ones!” cried the man who had last spoken. “These are the balloon boys! It was two men, not four boys, who broke jail! We’ve made a mistake!”
“What made ye run, if ye wasn’t guilty?” demanded the constable, rather incensed over his disappointment.
“Guess you’d run, Amos,” put in the other man, “if ye saw this crowd after ye.”