Here a campaign was speedily decided on. Dick was to go back to the office and chat for a few moments, while the others slipped out of camp. This would make it appear that they were in the neighborhood, and after a reasonable time, Dick could return and retire for the night.
Dick wandered back to the office to engage the manager in a talk about fishing and the possibility of a long hike to extend over a week or more, while Garry and Phil made for the lake.
The tote road that had been made to transport the sawed lumber ran for a short distance along the lakeside. Here there was a slightly wider place made so that the tractors that met each other could pass with ease. The ground was here covered with broken branches and debris of all sorts, well tramped into the ground. Garry flashed his lamp about and searched for signs of any sort, but seemed to find none. Then he went to the lake edge and peered about.
Some peculiar formation of rock made a sort of a ledge that stood about three feet above the water. This ledge interested Garry immensely, but he said nothing as he wanted more time to puzzle out the situation before coming to any definite conclusions. At the point where the tote road had been widened, there was a triple string of broad wheeled flat cars loaded with lumber.
“Now I wonder why these cars were left here,” asked Phil.
“That’s easy. The drivers knock off work at a regular hour, and when that time comes, if they have not gone very far on their trip, they simply come back to the camp and wait until morning. That is to prevent accidents which running in the dark might bring about,” said Garry.
“Hush, what’s that?” asked Phil. Both boys listened intently. Far off across the lake they heard a faint chugging noise. Sometimes it seemed to cease altogether, then as the breeze stirred they could hear it, getting fainter and fainter.
“Phil, I’ve discovered the secret of the stolen timber or I’m a Chinaman. That noise solves the whole proposition. That sound that we heard is the engine of a powerful motor boat. And Barrows insisted that there was no kind of water transportation on either lake. Now why should he lie about it unless he had some ulterior motive in covering up the presence of a boat? This is the answer or I’ll return from our mission and tell Dad I’m not bright enough to solve the mystery.”
“What have you doped out,” asked Phil, as Garry paused for a moment.
“Just this. I’ll bet you a dollar to a doughnut that the drivers that are in on this timber stealing business have it so arranged that there is always a load of cars waiting here overnight. That’s step number one. Now we have a rock formation here that makes a perfectly good wharf. Next you have noticed that all the chips and bits of broken branches strewn between the turnout here and that strip of rock. That’s just to hide the footprints that are made by the thieves. So far so good. How does this strike you? That motor boat that we heard is a big one, at least it had immense pulling strength. I know enough about engines to tell from the sound how good they are. That boat is probably used to draw a raft across the lake. Just after midnight, or some safe time during the dark hours, a raft can be backed against that natural wharf there, and in half an hour enough lumber can be carried from the flat cars to the raft to make it a profitable night’s work. Why, the whole thing is as plain as a pikestaff. Phil, we’ve got everything nearly dead to rights now!”