“He knows that—now. Not but what I guess the old man was honest enough. But it was a careless thing to do.”
“Maybe Crooked Nose got the things.”
“If he did, I hope we get Crooked Nose.”
“So do I. I don’t think we’ll get much out of Martley. He’s too deeply in debt, so I’ve heard.”
Professor Snodgrass was still at the Hopkins home and the boys went with him on one or two short trips, looking for bugs. But there was, on their part, not much interest in the work. They were, as was every one else in town, too much absorbed in the exciting events that followed the entrance of the United States into the war against Germany.
It was about a week after the fire, when Ned, Bob and Jerry were out in their automobile, discussing what they would do at the coming term of school, that they passed a newspaper office and stopped to read the bulletin.
“Look at that, fellows!” cried Jerry.
“What is it?” asked Bob, whose view was obstructed by Ned.
“It’s a call for volunteers to fight the Kaiser,” was the answer. “There may be a draft, later, fellows, and the volunteers are the boys who go first!” Jerry rose in his seat to read the bulletin over the heads of the crowd.
“The first call for volunteers,” he murmured. Then, with a suddenness that was startling, he exclaimed: