When they once more came to the summit, Teddy was standing outside the tent with Oliver and Dode and the two outlaws were nowhere to be seen. After that Bradley complained at the rate of speed the boys insisted on.
"Your friends must have thought they had butted into an ambuscade!"
Jimmie said to the captive. "Have they had much training in running?
They bobbed along like professionals, it seemed to me."
"You'll see how fast they can run!" Bradley growled. "They'll go fast enough to send you all over the road."
"Now about this grandson," asked Ned, falling back. "Mrs. Brady wants to know where he is. No use for you to hide him, now that we all know he was disguised to look like the prince stolen from Washington. Why did you paint him if not to imitate this other boy we speak of?"
"I don't know anything about the boy," was the reply. "He was taken without my knowledge, and that is on the level. I was ordered to do the paint act."
They trudged on for some minutes in silence, and then Bradley asked:
"What is it about this prince you are always talking about? What is there about the prince? Where is he? Why is he supposed to be in this section?"
"You don't know a thing about him, do you?" asked Ned, laughing, "and yet you painted a boy to represent him?"
Bradley only scowled.
"When I find him," Ned continued, "I'll present him to you!"