“Did you find out anything about the men?”
“No one here knows them,” he said. “They were never here before, and they came only to get some supplies. It appears they are camping on one of the islands in Lake Macopic.”
“Was their boat registered?” asked Neale.
“Yes. At least it is presumed so. But as we did not see the number on it we can give the authorities no clue. Motor boats up here don’t have to carry their number plates in such large size as autos do. That craft was not registered at this office, but it was, very likely, granted a permit at the office at the other end of the river or on the lake. So we can only keep on and hope either to overtake the men or to get a trace of them in some other way.”
“We can never overtake them if they keep going as fast as they did when they left here,” said Agnes.
“They won’t keep that speed up,” declared Neale. “But we had better get started. We’ll be under our own power now, and can travel whenever we like, night or day.”
“Are we going to take the mules with us—and Mr. Hank!” asked Dot, hugging her “Alice-doll.”
“Hank is going to accompany us,” said Mr. Howbridge. “But we’ll leave the mules behind, having no place for them on the Bluebird. I think I will dispose of them, for I probably shall not go on a vacation along the canal again.”
“But it was a delightful and novel one,” said Ruth.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” her guardian remarked. “It would have been little pleasure to me—this trip—if you young folks had not enjoyed it.”