"And clear Tom?"
"It looks that way. I wish he'd taken us into his confidence. We might have helped him. Wow, what a night!"
There came a fiercer blast of the storm, and a harder dash of rain against the window.
The two chums decided they could do nothing. They would have to wait until Tom returned. And they sat in anxious silence, until that should happen.
"What lane do you think was meant in the letter?" asked Bert, when Jack had placed the missive in Tom's desk.
"The lane leading to Appleby's farm, maybe."
"And if Tom goes there he may get into another row with the old farmer."
"Not much danger to-night. I guess Appleby will stay in where it's dry and warm. I wish Tom had."
Meanwhile the subject of their remarks was tramping on through the storm. His ankle pained him very much, and he realized that he would be better off in bed. But something drove him forward. He saw daylight ahead, even through the blackness of the night.
"At last!" Tom murmured, as he plunged on. "I'll see him, and get him to release me from my promise. Maybe he'll own up that he did the thing himself, and that will free me, though it will be terrible for mother. She never dreamed that Ray would get into such trouble.