“Excuse me, Aunt Abbie, but that’s a new one on me. I never before heard tell of a cat acting as a barometer.”
“Well, you can depend on Thomas Jones, that’s the name of my cat, to let me know whenever it’s going to rain in the summer.”
Dick finished his luncheon and then took his departure, promising to be back for supper unless something tied him up and prevented him. It should be mentioned that the boys had made arrangements to board at Aunt Abbie’s whenever they were in the town, so he was not exactly inviting himself to be a guest that night.
“Well, go along, and bring good news back with you when you come,” said the kindly Aunt Abbie as she began to clear away the dishes.
Thoroughly satisfied with the world, the fat youth sauntered towards the center of the village, and reconnoitred about the restaurant kept by the old Frenchman. No one was in sight, and he wandered down the street.
As he neared the corner where stood the general store, he saw Lafe Green disappearing around the side of the store. He followed cautiously, and let Green get a considerable start, and then trailed him. It was an easy job, for Green took to the woods that surrounded the town and walked swiftly. Dick dodged from tree to tree, keeping well back, but always close enough to make out Green’s form.
Lafe seemed to be circling as he walked, and Dick wondered what the idea was. Then it dawned on him, that from the direction he was taking, Lafe was headed for his own home. Dick at once concluded that there was some reason for his wanting to approach his own place without being detected. It was only a few moments before the boy saw the reason for the roundabout course.
Lafe took a stand under one of the trees, and in a few minutes was joined by two other men. Peering from his vantage point in back of a great spruce, Dick was startled to note that the new companions of Green were the two tramps that still remained at liberty.
They talked together in low tones for a moment, and then moved away. Walking as though the ground were covered with sharp needles and eggs and seeking shelter behind a tree every few seconds, Dick followed the trio.
As he thought, they headed for Lafe’s house, coming in from the back. When he was sure of their destination, Dick cut through the standing hay, and wriggling along on the ground, in a manner that the boys had read of the Indians doing, and had often practiced as youngsters, he approached the house. The hay field, as he knew, ran almost to the house, and ended at a stone wall not fifteen feet from the farmhouse. When he arrived at the wall he saw that the two tramps were sitting on the porch, while Lafe had gone inside on some errand. What the errand consisted of, was presently shown when the owner of the farm came out with a jug of cider.