“Well, I think that those fellows have picked out a place where they are going to stay for some time with the boy. Evidently they’ve been on the move with him, up to now, or else they’ve held him captive in some lonely place where he couldn’t get a chance to send his mother any word. For he’s a smart boy, and in the time he’s been kept away he would have found opportunity to do something to give us a clew, except it was utterly impossible.
“So that’s why I think they’re likely to keep him in Detroit for some time, and though I’m not going to waste many hours, I’m not going to go off on a rush. I think I’ll go by boat, instead of train, even though it’s slower. I like the water, and it will give me a chance to see something of the great lakes.”
“Why do you think they picked out Detroit?” asked Mrs. Dexter.
“Well, it’s hard to say,” answered Larry. “Perhaps they wanted to be in a position to escape by land or water if they found the police on their trail. Then, too, they may have gone from New York to Buffalo, and have taken a boat there for Detroit. Any way so as to break the trail. But I think I’m on it just the same,” and the young reporter concluded his packing with more hope in his heart than he had had in some time.
Larry had made a copy of the boy’s letter, and this he now looked at again, before bidding his family good-by for what might be a long time.
“Big chimneys,” mused Larry. “He says he can see big chimneys from his window, and not much else. I’ve got to look for chimneys, first of all.”
With plenty of expense money in his pocket, and arrangements made so that he could get more in Detroit, Larry started off on his trip along the Great Lakes. He was to go by train to Buffalo, and, as it was nearly night when he got started, he took a sleeper.
Little of interest occurred on the trip West. The train was on time, and in due course Larry found himself on one of the largest of the steamers on Lake Erie.
The weather was fine, and Larry really began to enjoy himself, as he sat on deck. Though he was filled with anxiety over the plight of the stolen boy, and though he realized that much depended on himself in rescuing the lad, still the young reporter would not allow his thoughts to become gloomy.
“I’ll just think of this as a sort of vacation,” he said. “I can’t really do anything until I get to Detroit, and maybe I’ll be a long while there before I can get on the right track. So I’ll take it easy while I can.”