“Guess great minds run in the same channel,” remarked Garry, “for I was thinking of the same thing not very long ago. But I have a better idea. By the time we get this business here settled up, it will be fairly well along in the summer, and it seems to me it would be useless to go back to the patrol for such a short time. We will want to have a few days at home before we go to military school this fall, and so I suggest that after this mission is ended, we get relieved from duty and go and mine some of the tourmalines. We ought to get quite a bit of the work done, for it is a comparatively easy job to get them out, and then we can hire a couple of guards to watch them until such time as we can come back, or get some trustworthy person to operate it for us; such a man as Nate Webster, for instance.”
“That would be a jolly good idea,” remarked Dick. “I’d like a chance at mining just to see how the thing is done.”
“Well, we’ll have to forget about that for the time being, for we have a big enough job on our hands for the present if we meet with any success on this business. As a matter of fact, we won’t be able to do a great deal on this anyway. It is something that we know nothing about, and I imagine that the only reason we were sent here at all is because we have had a chance to learn something about the country here and know some of the people in Hobart. As for giving any advice to the inspector, that of course is out of the question. Really, this thing looks more like a vacation to me than anything else,” concluded Garry.
“You never can tell what will happen,” remarked Dick sagely. “There’s one thing I would like to do before we quit here for the summer, and that is cause LeBlanc to be taken up and held where he can do no more mischief for a time. He gets worse every week, and there is no telling what he will do in the end. I wonder if he is the one that sent the letters to our friends? You know they were instrumental in bringing his smuggling plot to a disastrous end, and he is of the vengeful type that would seek some mean satisfaction.”
“I rather doubt that he is the one,” said Garry. “It is more likely some friend of Lafe Green, for he probably has some pals that were not caught in the net of the law when the smugglers were rounded up.”
“Well, we can do little until we get there and see what it is all about. There’s nothing to be gained by idle speculating as to the perpetrator of the offense, so we might as well take it easy till we reach our destination,” advised Garry.
The morning dragged on, and the boys welcomed the half hour stop for dinner. They ate in the same restaurant where they had met the Customs man some weeks before.
Their own dinner procured, they got something for Sandy and carried it to the baggage car.
The dog raised such a howl when they started to leave that Garry volunteered to ride in the baggage car for a while, provided the baggageman was willing. He heartily agreed to allow Garry to remain, and the others returned to the smoker.
The particular route over which they were traveling was not one of the best, and occasionally they were forced to wait while other trains made connections.