"Sam, where did you get that hurt on your head?" questioned Grace, in alarm.
"Oh, we had a little trouble, but it didn't amount to much," answered the youngest Rover as bravely as he could.
"Yes, but your head is in a dreadful condition."
"And Tom has a cut over the left eye," burst in Nellie. "Oh, you have had a fight of some kind, and I know it!"
"A fight!" cried Mrs. Stanhope. "Is it possible that you have been fighting?"
"We had a brush with a couple of rascals in Penwick," said Dick. "We tried to catch them, but they got away from us. That is all there is to it. I'd rather not talk about it," he went on, seeing that Mrs. Laning also wanted to ask questions.
"Well, you must really be more careful in the future," said Mrs.
Stanhope. "I suppose they wanted to rob you."
"They didn't get the chance to rob us," put in Tom, and then the Rovers managed to change the subject. The Stanhopes and the Lanings did not dream that Dan Baxter and Lew Flapp had caused the trouble. Perhaps, in the light of later events, it would have been better had they been told the truth.
Dick gave orders that the Dora should be moved down the river early the next day, and before the majority of the party were up, Pleasant Hills was left behind.
"I sincerely trust we have seen the last of Baxter and Flapp," said
Sam.