He was about to ride forward when he saw one of the men take a bundle from the wagon, run across the road with it, and disappear in the woods.
“That’s funny,” thought the boy. “What can he be doing?”
A moment later another man did the same thing, carrying what seemed to be a heavy bundle. A third man remained on the wagon.
Dan saw that by keeping on one side of the road he would be in the shadow and could remain hidden until quite close to the mysterious men. Softly he urged Bess forward, the horse making no sound.
Once more he saw the men approach the wagon, take something out, and disappear in the woods with it.
“They’re hiding stuff,” Dan reasoned. “I wonder if they’re chicken thieves?”
Several henhouses had been robbed of late in the vicinity of Hayden, and Dan was on the alert.
“If it was hens they had,” he went on, “I could hear some noise made by the fowls cackling or flapping their wings. Whatever they have doesn’t make any noise.”
For perhaps the fourth time the mysterious men made a trip from the wagon into the woods. When the two returned the man on the wagon seat inquired:
“Well, got it all planted?”