By this time Mr. Wadsworth had appeared, in a bath-robe, and Dunston Porter also showed himself. Dave slipped on his shoe again and fairly threw himself into his coat, and Roger also rearranged his toilet.
“Wait—I’ll go with you!” cried Phil.
“Can’t wait, Phil—every second is precious!” answered our hero. “You can follow with the men.”
“Take the gun, or a pistol—you may need it,” urged the shipowner’s son, as he started to dress.
In a corner stood Dave’s double-barreled shotgun, loaded. He took it up. Roger looked around the room, saw a baseball bat in another corner, and took that. Then the boys ran out into the hallway, where the electric lights were now turned on full. The whole house was in a hubbub.
“We are dressed and we’ll go right down to the works,” said Dave. “I heard what father said, Mr. Wadsworth. We’ll help Tony Wells, if we can.” And before anybody could stop him, he was out of the house, with Roger at his heels.
“Be careful, Dave!” shouted his uncle after him. “Those robbers may be desperate characters.”
“All right, Uncle Dunston, I’ll watch out.”
“If you chance to see a policeman, take him along. I’ll come as soon as I can get some clothing on.”
Tired though they were, the two boys ran all the distance to the jewelry works. When they got there they found everything as dark and as silent as before. They had met nobody.