“That was it,” said Uncle Tod, and he resumed:
“Once I got here and found how matters lay I decided to send for you. One reason was I wanted to give you a good vacation, and let you have a taste of the west, since you always said you wanted to come out here.”
“I did,” confessed Rick, “and you can’t know how thankful I am to you for letting me come.”
“So’m I,” chimed in Chot.
“Well, I just wanted you to come, and I wanted Ruddy, too,” went on Uncle Tod. “Maybe you can help us.”
“Nobody can!” declared Mr. Rockford, depressingly.
“Oh, dry up!” chided Uncle Tod with a laugh that took the sting out of the words.
“Um! That’s what Lost River did—dried up,” grunted Sam.
“Well, I guess most of the mysterious business is explained,” said Mr. Campbell, referring to the cabbage leaf message.
“Yes,” assented Uncle Tod, “I reckon you did puzzle over it for a spell, but it wasn’t my intentions, or my doings, even though I did sneak off quietly and, in that way, I may have added to it.”