Laura explained to her sister, and the two managed it so that the cadets left the hotel without having Mr. Ford take them back to camp in the launch.
“Now for the place where we are to meet Bert Field,” cried Pepper. “I hope we find him on hand. I am just in the mood for an adventure.”
“Well, you’ll get it—if we get in the old mill,” answered Andy, grimly. “Don’t forget what happened before.”
“I am not forgetting it,” answered The Imp, and felt of the pistol he had brought along. He had no desire to do any shooting, but he was resolved to do his best to save himself from bodily harm.
Their numerous tramps in that vicinity had made them more or less familiar with the roads, and they took as direct a course as possible for the spot where they were to meet Bert. He was on hand and glad to see them.
“I was afraid you couldn’t come,” he said. “I made up my mind to wait just an hour and then go it alone. Here is the rope. Are you armed?”
“Yes; are you?”
“I am.”
But little more was said, for the boys were afraid that somebody going to or coming from the old mill might hear them. Like a file of Indians they walked through the woods in the direction of the dilapidated structure that was located on the bank of the river.
“I’ve got a notion that Jabez Trask is at the mill,” whispered Bert, when they came within view of the place. “I’ve been watching around his house all afternoon, but he was nowhere in sight.”