"What's wrong now?" asked the slim man, who was panting from his exertions.
"That clever little scamp has dished us, that's what; carried away the spark plugs of the machine with him, and without them we might as well try to move this bridge. I was a fool to trust him one second. We've just got to find him, Bart, that's all there is to it! Either that, or walk into Fayette, and perhaps lose that train. Come on back again. You take one side, and I'll look over the other. He's there, sure, unless he got drowned, and that I don't imagine is the case."
Bart was fully awake to the great necessity of finding the boy, after hearing what Frank had done as he jumped from the car. Each of them hurried around the approach of the bridge, and slipped down the bank.
"Any sign of him over there, Jim," called Bart, as he pushed his way into the bushes and reeds that bordered the creek.
"Don't see none yet, but keep on further down. Like as not as he just drifted with the current a bit, and then crawled out. Get him, if you find his tracks, I feel like I could do something to him for playin' this trick on us. Hello!"
"What's doing, boss?" called the other.
"Here's where he crawled out, all right," replied Jim, excitedly.
"How d'ye know it is?" demanded the other, across the water of the creek.
"It's all wet. I'll follow it up, and nab him in a dozen winks. He can't have got far away, I reckon."
"What d'ye want me to do, Jim?" called his companion, after a wait.