Ruth, who stood nearest the rail, grasped her sister by the arm, and cried an alarm.
“Look! Those men! In the boat!” exclaimed Ruth.
“What about them?” asked Agnes, while Mr. Howbridge glanced at the two sisters.
“They’re the same men who robbed us!” exclaimed Ruth. “The men who took our jewelry box in the rain! Oh, stop them!”
[CHAPTER XVII—UP THE RIVER]
Neale O’Neil, who had been steering the houseboat during the operation of locking it from the canal into the river, sprang away from the tiller toward the side of the craft at Ruth’s cries. There was no immediate need of guiding the Bluebird for the moment, as she was floating idly with the momentum gained when she was slowly pulled from the lock basin.
“Are those the men?” asked Neale, pointing to two roughly dressed characters in a small motor boat.
“I’m sure they are!” asserted Ruth. “That one steering is the man who grabbed the box from me. Look, Agnes, don’t you remember them?”
Mr. Howbridge, who heard what was said, acted promptly. On the towpath, near the point where the river entered the canal through the lock, was Hank Dayton with the two mules, the services of which would no longer be needed.
“Hank! Hank! Stop those men!” cried the lawyer.