"Well?" insisted five boys in the same breath.
"I reckon I'll shut up," Dick rejoined.
"Say, somebody ought to hit Dickins!" grunted Reade.
"That's right," grinned Dan. "Well—-let Tom do it."
Dick continued to smile mysteriously. He enjoyed this good-natured teasing of his chums.
"What are we going to tell folks about what we saw at the cottage?" queried Dan after another five minutes of trudging.
"If we tell anything at all," suggested Prescott, "I'll tell you how we can win a prize."
"How?" demanded Tom innocently. "By telling the truth," Dick smiled. Soon after the Grammar School boys came out on the road.
"See that group 'way ahead there?" asked Tom, pointing down the road.
"Yes," nodded Dick. "That's Rip's crowd, so we know they didn't get hurt."