Having seen the inside of the barn in broad daylight, the boys knew just how it was arranged, and consequently they had no difficulty in finding a way to the hay-mow.
Dick threw himself down upon it with a sigh of relief, and prepared to go to sleep; while Bob, whose empty stomach had long been calling for something nourishing, thrust his hand into his basket and finally fished out a sandwich.
“Better take a bite before you go off into the land of dreams,” he said to his companion. “We shall have no breakfast until we reach George’s cabin, and that is at least two miles from here.”
Dick was too sleepy to make any response; so Bob left off bothering him, and sat there in the dark, munching his sandwich and wondering what the academy fellows would say when they learned that he, a born backwoodsman, had been lost in a little piece of timber that was scarcely larger than one of his father’s sheep-farms.
He came very near falling asleep while he was thinking about it; but, all on a sudden, he was aroused to full consciousness by the sound of voices and footsteps outside the barn. An instant later, a head was thrust in at the open door. Bob could see it very distinctly, because it was between him and the light; but the eyes that belonged to the head could not distinguish Bob’s form, for the barn was as dark as a pocket.
“It is a party of our fellows who have taken French leave, found their way up here by accident, and who intend to have a day’s sport at fishing, in spite of the principal’s prohibition,” thought Bob, as he rested his elbows on his knees, and waited to see what the newcomers were going to do. “As the owner of this hotel is not present, and Dick is fast asleep, I think it nothing more than fair that I should act as master of ceremonies and give them a hearty greeting.”
Before he could act on this resolution, the newcomers entered the barn. There were three of them, and Bob saw at once that they had come there with a well-defined object in view, for they said and did some things that astonished and alarmed him.
CHAPTER X.
THE MASKED ROBBERS.
“This is a good place to put on our disguises, fellows,” said one of the intruders, in a low tone. “In ten minutes more we shall be rich men. All we have to do is to act quickly and silently, and the money is ours.”
As he spoke he drew from his pocket something that looked like a piece of cloth, and, after shaking out the folds, he went through with some manipulations, which Bob, owing to the darkness, could not distinctly see.