“No, he didn’t,” put in Bob. “He was as clean as if he’d just been to the barber’s.”
“You don’t s’pose he got shaved in the woods, after his bath, do you?” asked Ned.
“You mean we must have been mistaken in thinking he needed one?” asked Jerry.
“No, I mean his appearance changed after he fell or jumped into the water. His ‘whiskers’ came off.”
“Then he was disguised!” exclaimed Jerry.
“That’s what I believe,” Ned replied. “And what with a disguised tramp on a hay barge, a mysterious schooner named Bluebird, and Bill Berry’s curious reference to something ‘blue’ I shouldn’t wonder but what there was something strange going on around these parts. And we’re liable to get mixed up in it at any time.”
“Not any more to-night, if you please,” spoke Jerry. “I’m dead tired, and I want to go to bed. If there are going to be any more adventures I’m going to duck.”
“Well, I don’t s’pose we can find out anything more to-night,” admitted Ned. “So let’s head for home.” And they did.
The next day the boys made a trip up the river to where they had tied the hay barge. They found several men on the craft, discussing how it had happened the boat had moved from the place where they had tied it. The boys moored their craft and went on the barge to get their rope.
“So this is your tow line, eh?” asked a man who seemed to be in charge of the barge.