“Now what was he there for if not to listen to the particular conversation that we were having?” asked Garry of the others. “I begin to make two and two into four on several of these questions. I think that the sending of the letters to the Everetts and the theft of the checks from the mail are done by the same people.”
“By gracious, there’s something I noticed when we were examining the letters and then it slipped my mind. There was one letter there that had no stamp on it, and I was going to ask how it had been delivered. I’ll bet a cookie that it was slipped into the mail bag by someone who was fooling around with the other mail. Now this Avalon has probably hot-footed it to the man back of all this to tell him that the law is already on the trail of the missing checks. They know that you can fool very little with Uncle Sam’s mail system. It’s one of the safest and best protected things in the world,” declared Phil.
“Well, we can do nothing more tonight, except to notify the constable to keep an eye on Avalon, and pick him up on suspicion for questioning when the inspector gets here. We might as well go and get some sleep now, and be fresh for a start in the morning,” said Garry.
“Not much use in having Avalon watched. Now that he knows he was seen, he is probably off to some hiding place where he will lie low till he can get across the border. Still we’d better be safe than sorry, and I’ll tell the authorities first thing in the morning,” said Denton.
The boys took their leave of Denton and left the general store, promising to look in next morning and buy some supplies, for they intended to camp at the old lean-to outside the town.
They stood for a few moments on the steps of the general store chatting with several of the villagers who made a sort of a club room of the store every evening. Then they walked down the street a way, when Garry stopped them for a consultation.
“I was just wondering if there was anything that we could do tonight,” he told his friends. “I thought for a minute that we might try and get on the trail of this Avalon and see where he went. If he is mixed up in this, he probably went directly to where the head of this mischief is and reported his discovery.”
“Don’t believe there is a chance in the world. He went off as though he were shot out of a gun, and by now he is probably safely hidden or making his way guardedly to his hiding place. If we had brought Sandy with us tonight he might have gotten on the trail. Next time we make any move, we’ll have him with us,” advised Dick.
“Guess you’re right, and the sensible thing to do is to go home to bed,” answered Garry. They sauntered up the street towards the section where Aunt Abbie lived, taking their time, for the night was fine—a night such as is known only in Maine—when the heat of the day is cooled off by the balsam laden breezes that blow through the forests.
“Say, I want some candy before I go to bed,” announced Garry.