“Gone!” burst out Andy and Boxy in a breath, while Jack looked as if he had not heard aright.
“Yes, gone!” repeated Harry.
“But I locked it fast to the piling!” exclaimed Jack. “You have the key.”
“I don’t care! she’s gone, and I can’t see anything of her.”
Without another word, the quartet hurried down to the edge of the ice. It was just as Harry had announced, the iceboat was nowhere in sight. Each of the boys looked at his comrades.
“What does it mean?” asked Boxy.
“It means that the Icicle has been stolen!” cried Jack.
“Stolen?”
“Yes. It was locked up tight enough. Somebody has come here and either broken the lock or else had a key to fit it. Boys, we are in a hole!”
The faces of the Zero Club fell. Without their iceboat, with which to make the journey up the river, what was to be done?