“Well, it isn’t such a small meal at that, Chunky,” laughed Jerry. “Did you put on all there was in the locker?”
“No, there’s a little more left, but not much; so we’ll have to go back.”
“But you’ll return for my specimens, won’t you?” pleaded the little scientist.
“Oh, yes, we’ll come back after them—and the rustlers!” declared Jerry.
“Hope we can catch ’em,” sighed Ned.
“I think you can,” Professor Snodgrass said. “They are a bold but careless lot. They fancy themselves safe, but I know their secret.”
“What is it?” asked Jerry, and his chums waited eagerly for the professor’s reply.
“There is a secret way out of the rocky ravine,” was the answer. “I know how to find it. I’ll tell you about it after I eat.”
“Yes, for the love of horse-radish let him eat!” cried Bob. “He must be half starved.”
And the professor certainly seemed so, judging by the way he began at the food, after he had made a hasty toilet with soap and water, which he said was almost as great a luxury as the soup and meat Bob set before him. The boys ate with him, for they, too, were hungry.