“Oh well, we’re not worrying about it,” was the reply. “We’re leaving the whole case to Lawyer Martin.”
As the night advanced the residents left the campfire and returned to their homes, while the boys sought their bunks on board the Rambler.
“What was it some one said about a small world?” asked Clay. “Who was it that said that a face once seen was sure to cross our paths in future years? Was it the same man who said that a note of music once struck revolves around the earth for countless millions of years, never ceasing, never reaching mortal ears, but making its way through space forever?”
“Hold on!” Alex cried. “Come down from the stars if you want to talk to us.”
“Well,” Clay went on, “every person we have met at our stopping-places has been seen or heard of at the next stopping-place. We meet a disguised man on the street at Montreal. We come to a campfire by the riverside, miles above the city, to learn why he was disguised, and why he was following us. As we have said several times lately, this is a pretty small world. The man you meet to-day may walk in your path forever!”
The boys were astir early in the morning. They cooked breakfast on the shore, watched by inquisitive boys and girls, and then proceeded upstream. They passed beautiful Lake St. Frances long before noon, and just as night fell tied up at a lower pier at Ogdensburg. As soon as supper had been eaten, Alex and Captain Joe started away together.
“Here, where are you boys going?” asked Clay. “I say boys because Captain Joe has more sense than Alex,” he added, turning to the others. “At least Captain Joe doesn’t get lost very often.”
“Right over here on the river front,” Alex replied, “is where the Rutland Transit Company boats dock. Those boats are fresh from Chicago, and I’m going over to see if I can get a drink of Lake Michigan water!”
“If you go over there with that dog,” Case declared, “the sailors will steal him. That dog is about as well known in Chicago as Carter H. Harrison. He’s had his picture in every one of the Chicago newspapers.”
“All right,” replied Alex. “If they catch him and take him back to Chicago, they’ll have to take me with him.”