“A piece of red silk!” exclaimed Ned. “It’s just like some that was stolen from my father’s store! The things have been here, but they are gone!”
“Perhaps they are here yet,” suggested Jerry, “only we can’t find them. Maybe there are other secret hiding places. What had we better do?”
The boys were much excited over their find. That they were on the trail of the thieves they were certain, but what to do next puzzled them.
“How would it do for one of us to stay here, and the others go and get police assistance,” suggested Ned. “We ought to have the detectives on this case at once.”
“I have a better plan,” said Jerry. “Let two of us stay here, and the other take the motor boat and go after Chief Dalton in Cresville.”
“How will we decide who are to stay and who is to go?” asked Ned.
“We’ll draw lots,” replied Jerry. “Those who get the longest will stay on the schooner, and the one who gets the shortest will start in the motor boat.”
The lots were made from three straws. Jerry got the shortest.
“Well, the sooner I get off the quicker the chief will be back here,” he observed.