“But, I thay!” he exclaimed, turning to Fitzgerald. “Thurely you don’t weally mean that?”
The slim chap choked and turned red, but his face was quite serious.
“Isn’t it an awful thing?” he questioned sadly. “I don’t think I shall ever recover from the shock.”
Merriwell noticed McCormick’s distress, and it suddenly occurred to him that Archie’s only brother had been sentenced unjustly to a term in Sing Sing for embezzlement. Naturally the youth would think of him whenever the subject of bank robberies was broached, and he decided that the joke had gone a little too far.
“Stop your nonsense, Fitz,” he said quickly, “and fry that bacon. You’ve been idling there quite long enough.”
“But how about this robbery?” persisted Buckhart, who had become interested. “Did they get away?”
“See for yourself,” Fitzgerald returned, tossing the paper to him. “I have work to do.”
Brad caught the scrap of newspaper and carried it to the lamp.
“Thirty thousand dollars,” he mumbled. “Regular professional job—confederate—traced to——By thunder, boys! They were traced to Middleberry. What do you think of that? Traced to Middleberry and then lost track of.”
Middleberry being the nearest railroad town and not more than twelve miles away, this announcement created considerable interest. Every one desired to learn all the particulars, which were meager enough; and then they began to speculate on where the robbers would naturally hide themselves. The country thereabouts was sparsely settled, many of the farms having been abandoned, and the thick woods offered plenty of chances for secure retreats.