"But as long as you don't know you can't tell very much," spoke Tom. "But I know that Boy Scout business is good. I'm going to join a troop, I guess."
"But which way shall we go to catch up to that junk wagon and get Ruddy back?" asked Rick. He, too, was interested in Boy Scouts, but not at a time like this. He wanted his dog.
"This is the way the junk man would go after coming from Belemere," announced Chot, pointing down the road. "If he went that way," and he pointed in the opposite direction, "he'd be going back where he came from."
"Then let's chase along!" cried Rick. "I want my dog!"
"That's it!" exclaimed Tom. "We got to catch that junk man!"
"And the sailor," added Rick, "he's the one that's got my dog, I'm sure. The junk man is only giving him a ride so he can get away quicker."
"And is this the sailor that had your dog before he come up out of the ocean and the coast guard found him?" asked Chot.
"I guess so," was Rick's answer as the three boys walked along. "But, anyhow, even if that sailor did have the dog, maybe he hasn't any right to him now. Ruddy came to me. Maybe he ran away from the sailor. And if a dog runs away from a man he doesn't belong to him any more."
I do not say Rick was right in this belief, but his chums thought that he was, for they exclaimed:
"Sure! That's it! He's your dog!"