AT THE RAILROAD STATION
"See anybody, Sam?"
"Nobody that looks like that man, Spud, but there is Mr. Sanderson's horse with the cutter."
"Yes, I spotted those right away. Look how the poor nag is heaving. He must have been driven almost to death."
"That may be. Although we got here almost as quickly as he did. But he may have been used quite some before this trip," returned Sam; and this surmise was correct.
The two boys, with the policeman, had done their best to catch the departing train and have it stop, but without avail. When they had reached the depot the last of the cars was well down the line, and soon the train had disappeared around a curve of the roadbed.
"What's the matter, Ike? What are you after?" queried the freight agent, as he came up to the policeman.
"We are after the man who was driving that cutter yonder," explained Sam. "Did you see him—a big fellow with a heavy overcoat and with a fur cap pulled down over his forehead?"
"Why yes, I saw that fellow get aboard," answered the freight agent. "I was wondering what he was going to do with his horse. He didn't even stop to put a blanket over the animal."
"That fellow was a thief," explained Sam. "I wonder if we can't have him captured in some way? What is the next station the train will stop at?"