In the meantime Mrs. Allen and Helen were planning to return home as speedily as possible, as both wished to be at the side of husband and father at this time of trouble. But the trip was a long one and would take over a week to accomplish, for they were not even near the railroad.
On the second morning after the fire Lanky and Frank were together and were joined along the streets by several of the boys, among them being Ralph West. Rapid fires of questions as to the condition of his father were hurled at Frank, and every one seemed pleased at the cheery news that he was apparently better.
“Tell me about this robbery up the river,” said Ralph, when they had a moment together. “It has been in the papers, and I saw you and Lanky had been there shortly after it happened.”
“I haven’t seen the article, Ralph, but Lanky and I got there right after it all happened and turned Mrs. Parsons loose. But this fire and dad’s getting hurt knocked out of my mind most of the thoughts of the robbery.”
He told Ralph some parts of the story, the high lights of it, following Ralph’s questions.
“Why are you asking so many questions about it?” asked Frank, for Ralph was not generally given to gathering such close details.
“Because I heard on the street a while ago that the chief is going to have a hearing of some sort and that they are going to ask you and Lanky over there.”
“That wouldn’t be out of the way,” replied Frank. “They wish to get all the information they can in order to locate those thieves, I presume, and certainly Lanky and I were there very closely behind them—in fact, we were there at the same time they were and saw them go—and something we might tell the chief that Mrs. Parsons hadn’t told or didn’t know, may help.”
Though he did not mention it to Ralph, Frank had not forgotten the accusation made by the policeman while at the Parsons place, and, though he knew it was a false one, it was an uncomfortable feeling to realize that some one, whether in authority or not, whether a thinking man or not, had accused him of complicity of some sort.
“Frank,” said Lanky, as he came up and joined the two, “what do you say if you and I and any of the others who care to do so go up to the Parsons place to see what we can learn? You know, we might see something in daytime that we couldn’t see at night.”