He picked up a silver dish and Andy picked up another. As they were looking at the silver pieces they heard a door open and felt a sudden gust of air.
“Somebody is here——” commended Pepper, when he fell back in sudden alarm. For from out of a dark corner an old man had appeared. He wore a long, white beard and his straggling hair was of the same color. In his hands he carried a short shotgun and this he had leveled straight ahead of him.
“Burglars! thieves! robbers!” he screamed. “Drop my silver plate or I will shoot you!”
His manner was so stern and wild that the two cadets lost no time in setting down the silver pieces they had picked up. The old man continued to point his shotgun, first at Andy and then at Pepper.
“I heard there were burglars in this vicinity,” he said, in a croaking voice. “But I did not think you would dare to come here.”
“We are not burglars!” answered Pepper.
“Ha! I know better! You cannot deceive me!”
“We are schoolboys and we came in here to get out of the storm,” explained Andy.
“I do not believe it! You are burglars! Those uniforms are merely a disguise. You were after my precious silver plate! The world-renowned Robertson silver plate! But you shan’t have it! Jabez Trask knows how to protect his own!”
At the mention of the old man’s name the cadets started. This then, was the man for whom Bert Field was seeking. Certainly as strange an individual as the tall, thin youth himself.