“That old train robber!” cried Alex. “What kind of a hold could he have on Gran? I just believe the boy was afraid to stir when he passed the Rambler that day. Wish I’d shot that big stiff!”
“Besides,” Clay went on. “Gran passed us that note. It was hastily ended, as if he had been interrupted in writing it. And when he threw it out into the river he made sure that the man who was rowing did not see the movement.”
“The sneaking hold-up man!” Case broke in, angrily.
“We don’t know anything about him,” Clay concluded. “We have no proof that he assisted in robbing the train. In fact, we know that he did not, for he was on the train that carried us into Donald.”
“But he might have put up the job,” insisted Alex.
CHAPTER XX.—CAPTAIN JOE MAKES A DISCOVERY.
And in this way all their discussions concerning Gran and the mysterious man ended. There were no signs to go by. They hadn’t a thing to point to as an established fact in connection with the boy except that he had come to them in trouble, had been assisted, and had been grateful.
And there were no clues to connect the long-armed man with any crime whatever. The boys knew that he had not been present at the robbery of the train, and that is all they did know about him, except that he had followed on after them and either coaxed or forced Gran to desert them.
The larceny of the films was still a mystery. No one save a member of the party could have taken them, they thought. No one except a member of the party would have been likely to have opened the kodak and taken the films out right there in the cabin. An outsider, it was certain, would have taken the kodak with him and opened it at some less perilous time.
So far as the robbery was concerned, the boys had believed that Gran had taken them. They had held that opinion until the note had been fished out of the river. The note had started in to say something about the films. If he had stolen them he would not be apt to talk or write about them to the boys.