“Pepper and I did our best to trace the men, but we could not do it,” Jack went on. “We found some whisps of excelsior on the road, and some footprints, but not enough to follow to the end.”
The loss of the trophies carried consternation to everybody present, and the boys felt more than blue as they discussed the situation. They had expected to return the trophies to Pornell Academy in secret in the near future. Some were in favor of going to George Strong with their story.
“The crazy men are his relatives,” said one. “He ought to do all in his power to locate them.”
“If we go to him Captain Putnam will find out that we took the trophies,” said Andy. “And we don’t want that to happen—at least not yet.”
“I move we wait before we do anything,” said Dale. “Let us all go out into the woods and hunt for those men.”
“We don’t want to get killed,” said Stuffer.
“If we find them we needn’t show ourselves. The best plan would be to watch ’em until they go to sleep for the night and then run for help and bag ’em before they move in the morning.”
“Dale talks as if he had spotted them already,” said Bart, with a laugh.
“Well, you offer a better plan,” retorted Dale.
It was finally decided that the cadets should wait at least a week before going to Mr. Strong or the authorities. In the meantime all were to make a strong effort to locate Bart Callax and Paul Shaff.