"You've been kneeling in the dirt!"
Ted glanced down at his trousers involuntarily; but even then he was not taken off his guard.
"I fell ever so many times after my lantern went out. See here, mister, how I scraped the skin off my hand. That's the honest truth I'm givin' you!" he cried.
Undoubtedly it was, but all the same the men showed no signs of yielding.
The taller one, called Brad by his companion, deliberately detached one of the lamps from the car. With this he bent down to examine the road.
"He'll see the marks of the bag!" whispered Bobolink to Paul.
"Watch him while I scurry along the road a bit, to see if he left it," was what the man said, and then moved down toward the spot where the five boys lay in hiding.
When he came opposite them they hardly dared to breathe, lest his keen ears catch the sound, and he pounce upon them.
But he went past, scouring the road closely, and looking for some sign of the missing bag. They saw him pass on, and the light grew dim. Meanwhile Ted sat down on a log, and seemed to be very dejected and forlorn. Once or twice when the shorter man was not looking Paul saw him glance around, as though sizing up the chances for a sudden plunge into the forest.
"He's coming again," said Bobolink; and the brilliant glow from down the road bore evidence of the truth of this remark which was whispered in Paul's ear.