“They didn’t land here,” he said quietly.
“What?” exclaimed Leonard.
“I say, they didn’t land here.”
“How do you make that out?”
“Well, if they had landed here there would certainly be footprints. They couldn’t have walked through this soft mud without leaving tracks.”
“The lad is right,” murmured Jenkins.
“Then how do you account for the launch being here?” asked one of the policemen.
“Easily,” said Dick. “They started the engine and let her go. See, the engine is still running, and if she had not been caught in this bunch of weeds she would still be going down stream.”
“You are right,” Leonard agreed. “And there is no telling how far back they deserted her. What shall we do?”
“First,” said Jenkins, “we’ll reoccupy the Sybil and leave the other launch here.”