The men rolled in, but Dick was too excited to sleep, and he told Mr. Boone, in a low tone, of all that had transpired since they had reached the camp. Of course he was unable to tell of the way in which the timber was stolen, as he had not seen his chums when they returned from their expedition that night he was captured.
Mr. Boone was silent for some few minutes after Dick had concluded his talk. He was worried about Garry and Phil, and Dick, noting his silence, asked him what the trouble was.
When he found the reason for Mr. Boone’s worry, he endeavored to cheer him up.
“The chances are that they have not fallen into the hands of anyone at the camp here, else they would have been brought here with us. I am certain that they have discovered some clue and are following it up. Very likely they are searching for me, as they of course do not know I am here.”
Being ignorant of all that had transpired, Dick did not know how near at that moment his chums were.
As they talked, they were being guided towards the road by King. It was necessary to make a wide detour in order to avoid running into a stray member of the camp traitors’ party.
Garry was well satisfied with part of the night’s work. In the first place, he had proof that Carson, his father’s business enemy, was at the bottom of the whole mess, and in the second place, he felt that he had so effectively disabled the motor launch that no more timber would be stolen that night. By the next day, he expected to have the whole gang rounded up.
They finally reached the road, and were half way to the town, when they heard the sound of what they thought was a large auto truck coming towards them.
When they drew near the truck, they saw a dozen rifles leveled at them, and a stern voice told them to halt. They feared for a moment that they had walked into a new trap.
One of the men leaped from the truck and asked them who they were and what their business was.