"Maybe we can get the goats on the sly," suggested Randy.
"I think that would be the better way to do it," answered Jack. "We can leave a note behind, stating that the goats will be returned, and we can also pay O'Toole something for using his animals."
The boys talked the matter over for several minutes, and then it was decided that Andy and Randy should go ahead and reconnoitre. This they did, and were gone for about ten minutes.
"The coast is clear so far as we can see," announced Randy. "Mike O'Toole and his wife are both in the kitchen of the farmhouse preparing supper.
"And where are the goats?" questioned Fred quickly.
"He keeps them in a little shed off of his barn. Come on, I'll show you," returned Randy.
The other cadets followed him, and they soon reached the place he had mentioned. Here O'Toole kept six goats, and they were found finishing up some food he had evidently given them a short while before.
Two of the billy goats were quite large, one possessing a very fine pair of horns. This one, the boys knew, was called Patrick. The other large goat went by the name of Dan.
"Here is the harness," said Andy, bringing it from some pegs on which it was hanging. "We'll have to do the best we can about hitching 'em up."
While the others were doing this, Jack tore a page from a notebook he carried, and on this, in a large, disguised hand, he wrote the following: