“Well that seems simple enough to me,” spoke Ned. “He’s probably been a criminal in his time, and knows some of the crooks who robbed my father’s store. In some way he found out they had the stolen stuff on the schooner, and he wanted to let us know to pay for our favors to him. You remember how excited he got when he found out my name was Slade.”
“Yes, that’s all right as far as it goes,” said Jerry, “but you’ll never get me to believe that tramp is either a criminal or one who travels with thieves. He’s a different character altogether. You’ll see I’m right. He may have found out where the stolen stuff is, but it was in some other way than being a companion of the thieves.”
“Well, maybe, you’re right,” came from Ned. “That part can be settled later. The main thing is to find the Bluebird and see what there is aboard.”
“Which isn’t going to be such an easy thing as it sounds,” Jerry remarked.
“Why not?”
“Well, it may be a simple matter to locate the vessel, as the lake is not very large, but when we get to her have you thought of what we will do with her?”
“Go aboard, of course, and demand my father’s goods and money,” said Ned boldly.
“You seem to forget there is a difficulty in the way,” Jerry went on. “The men who stole the stuff, provided it is aboard the ship, are not likely to let us come over the side as if we were on a visit, and search for incriminating evidence. Then, too, there is Noddy, and he is not likely to welcome a call from us. No, I think we’ll have our hands full in getting aboard the Bluebird.”
“What would you advise?” asked Bob, as both he and Ned had come to regard Jerry’s ideas as being a little better than their own on important matters.
“I think it would do no harm to make a search and find where the Bluebird is lying,” said Jerry after a little thought. “Then, perhaps we can decide on a plan of action. It’s a sort of following the old recipe of making a rabbit pot-pie,—to first catch the rabbit.”