One of the men made a dart for a window, as though to get out, but he was knocked back by a deputy, and in a few seconds all three men were secured.
Neale, who had pressed into the cabin as soon as possible, looked with fast-beating heart into the faces of the three tramps. To his great relief none was his father.
“Now, what’s all this about?” growled one of the men. “What’s the game?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” declared the constable. “Are either of these the men you spoke of?” he asked the lawyer.
“Yes, those two are the ones that several times went off in a hurry in the motor boat,” said Mr. Howbridge. “But I can not identify them as the ones who took the jewelry. Ruth and Agnes Kenway will have to do that.”
As he spoke the two men looked at him. One shook his head and the other exclaimed:
“It’s all up. They got us right!”
“Come on now lively, men!” cried Constable Newcomb. “Search this place, gather up what evidence you can, and we’ll take ’em to jail.”
“Are there any others?” asked Neale, hoping against hope as the men were taken outside the shack and the search was begun.
“I guess we have the main ones, anyhow,” answered Mr. Newcomb. “Oh, look at this bunch of stuff!” he cried, as he threw back the dirty blankets of one of the bunks. “They’ve been robbing right and left.”