CHAPTER VII.
A BAD BREAK
“That was queer, wasn’t it?” said Jerry to his chums when they were seated in the train, moving swiftly toward the great west. “I wonder what he meant, and what he was doing out here?”
“And I guess you can keep on wondering, for all the good it will do,” commented Bob. “I couldn’t make anything out of what they said, except that some ship might be lost. That’s common enough.”
“I wonder what that stuff was that he shipped from the freight office?” mused Jerry.
“Rat poison, maybe,” replied Ned with a laugh. “I’ve heard there are lots of rats on ships, and maybe he has a patent stuff for getting rid of ’em.”
“It might be,” agreed Jerry. “Well, as Bob says, there’s no use wondering. Say, but this is pretty nice scenery,” and he pointed to the view from the window, as they were passing along the shores of a lake.
“Fine!” exclaimed Ned. “It ought to have some mountains around it, and it would look just like Lost Lake, where we found the hermit, that time.”
“Seems as if that was a good while ago,” commented Bob, “but it wasn’t so very.”
For several hours the boys discussed their past adventures, some of which were brought to their minds by views of the western country through which they were passing. Professor Snodgrass took no interest in anything except a big book which he was studying carefully, at times making notes on slips of paper, which had a tendency to drop into the aisle, or under the seat when he was not looking. In consequence the car, in the vicinity of where the professor sat, looked as though a theatrical snow-storm had taken place.
One morning the boys awakened to find the train making fast time over a level stretch of country, with rolling hills here and there, covered with tall grass. Occasionally glimpses could be had of herds of cattle.