The supper bell rang at that moment and they went downstairs, to find the corps buzzing with the news from town. Nothing else was talked of during the meal, for such things were unusual and it was the first time in its history that Portville had come in for such distinction. Scores of different plans for catching the bandits were advanced, some of which made the colonel smile.
“Too bad the authorities don’t request that you boys be put on the trail to run the outlaws down,” he suggested.
“If we were put on the job we’d do our best to catch those thieves,” Lieutenant Thompson boasted.
After the drill the cadets managed to straggle down into town to see if there was anything unusual, but they were disappointed. A number of the local police stood about, but that was the only sign that anything was wrong. Of course there were the extra knots of townspeople who buzzed and hummed, but as most of their talk was fruitless speculation the cadets paid no attention to it.
On the following day the Portville paper carried a screaming account of the robbery, in fact, there was little else in the paper but the news. Beside a dozen different accounts of the affair, given by the cashier and the clerks who had been eyewitnesses of the holdup, there were accounts of the activities of the police and promises for a speedy capture of the bandits. Pictures of the bank adorned the inside sheets, and the history of the institution took up an entire page.
It was Jim who found a paragraph of unusual interest in the account. Most of the cadets had contented themselves with a glance at the headlines of the paper, but Jim had taken the trouble to read the details. He lost no time in finding Don and Terry.
“Look here,” he commanded them, pointing to the paper. “I just found one item of interest to us. Did you fellows know that the private vault of the Gates family was robbed?”
“I had heard so,” Terry nodded. “Anything of value taken?”
“Yes, some very expensive silver plate. But this is what the paragraph says: ‘Besides a quantity of silver plate and some family heirlooms in the way of jewelry, a silver cup trophy, won at school by Arthur Gates, was also taken from the family vault.’”
“A silver cup, eh?” said Don, his eyes narrowing. “Now, can that be our silver cup?”