Frank was almost as excited now as Lanky had been from the start. The great race had been won by Columbia; and as if that were not enough glory for one day, here they were about to prove that they could play the part of detectives as well as win juvenile Marathons.
Frank had to be urged to hasten no longer. He ran like a greyhound for home, and to don an extra suit of clothes, his ordinary wearing apparel being down at the dressing-rooms of the athletic grounds, where he could get it on the next day.
The way Frank got into those clothes would have opened the eyes of some boys, who, having no bump of order, can never find anything that belongs to them. And as soon as he had finished, he found that Lanky had already made a break for the outer air.
“We’ve got to get a wagon at the livery!” was what the leader called back over his shoulder; and about three minutes later a couple of panting boys were demanding that a vehicle capable of holding half dozen at least be hitched up.
After that came the job of getting the co-operation of the police. Luckily Chief Hogg had arrived home from his duties of repressing the smaller boys at the athletic grounds. And not being averse to figuring in a matter that was apt to get his name printed in the big daily papers of the metropolis, he at once hustled a couple of his men around to the big wagon.
Frank saw that they were, as he expressed it, “loaded for bear”; since every man swung a club; and moreover made it a point to have a suspicious bulge under the tails of his coat, showing that he carried a big revolver in a hip pocket.
The Chief himself drove the horses attached to the wagon. Doubtless people, seeing them pass, might wonder what was going on; but then that day had been so filled with thrills that they could not bother themselves any great length of time in useless speculation.
“Now tell me something about how you came in,” demanded Frank, after they were well started on the little run to Budd’s Corners.
“Oh; on the jump, sure!” replied Lanky, with one of his usual laughs.
“But go on and tell me about it,” Frank persisted. “You must have overhauled the two runners ahead of you before a couple of miles had been laid away. How was it when you went ahead? Did anything happen? Was there anything said, or attempted, about that time, Lanky?”