“I say, Dick, wake up here!” repeated Bob, throwing more strength and energy into his efforts. “There’s robbery going on!”
“Who cares?” said Dick, drowsily. “I haven’t got anything worth stealing.”
“But Mr. Stebbins has,” urged Bob, retaining his hold of his companion’s shoulder and rolling him from side to side, in spite of the latter’s efforts to shake him off. “He’s got a lot of money in the house—the money that George Edwards told us about, you know—and three robbers have come here to get it. You’ve come to your senses at last, have you?” he added, as Dick straightened up, with an exclamation of astonishment.
Seeing that he had succeeded in making his friend understand the situation, Bob proceeded to give a hurried account of what he had seen and heard during the last few minutes, adding a piece of information that fairly stunned the listener.
“The voice of the one who had the most to say, and who seemed to be the leader of the gang, sounded wonderfully like Arthur Wallace’s,” said Bob, “and he called one of his companions ‘Benson!’”
“Good gracious!” exclaimed Dick. “It couldn’t have been Jim Benson?”
“Answer the question for yourself,” replied Bob. “All I know about it is this: Whoever they are, they have been engaged in business of this kind before to-night, and when they are out on their raids, they drop their own names and answer to others. One of them, the timid one, is young Jesse James, and the leader is Wild Harry. Who the third one is, I don’t know; but I would almost swear that his right name is Will Forbes.”
“It can’t be possible!” said Dick. “Do you suppose that any of our academy boys—Bob Howard, you have been asleep and dreamed it all!”
“Have I, though? Dare you go out of the barn with me and see for yourself? If we don’t find some robbers about that house I will give in, and admit that I fell asleep without knowing it.”
The answer that Bob received to this challenge was the click of Dick’s gun as he opened the spring and released the barrels. He pushed a cartridge into each chamber, buckled his belt about his waist and crept toward the ladder, Bob following silently after him, and marvelling greatly all the while.