CHAPTER XXIII
PREPARING AN AMBUSH
“Say, you came as quietly as a shadow,” whispered the plump youth. “How do you ever do it?”
“You don’t expect me to blow a whistle under the circumstances, do you?” asked Bob.
“Never mind that, but tell us what you heard,” said Joe impatiently. “What are they up to, Bob?”
“I can’t tell you until I compare what I copied down with the code key,” said Bob, as he fished in his pocket for the bit of paper on which he had noted down the robber’s message. Having found this, he and Joe searched through the key and soon had the following message pieced together:
“Truck—silk—Barberton Road—to-night. Meet me and others—Hicks Bridge—eight o’clock. Truck due—ten o’clock.”
Having deciphered the message, the boys gazed questioningly at one another.
“That doesn’t give us much time to act,” said Joe. “If we wait here it may be close to eight o’clock before the others come to relieve us, and then it will be too late to prevent the robbery.”
“The answer is, that we won’t wait here,” said Bob decisively. “As long as we know their plans up until this evening, there’s no need of watching this cabin any longer, anyway. We’d better start back right away, and tell Mr. Brandon what we’ve found out. He’ll know the best thing to do then.”