But at that moment the telephone rang, and Mr. Holton stepped over to answer it.
A few seconds later he uttered a cry of surprise. His brow wrinkled, and his face took on a look of dismay.
“Why, it can’t be!” he cried excitedly. “Stolen! Gone!”
At the scientist’s ominous words Mr. Lewis looked up in wonder. The boys too listened intently. They were growing impatient when Mr. Holton again spoke.
“Stay where you are,” he directed the person at the other end of the line. “We’ll meet you at once.”
With these words he hung up and turned to the others.
“Those specimens that we bought from Thompson in Chicago—they’ve been stolen!” he explained in a worried voice.
“What!” cried Mr. Lewis angrily. “Do you mean that?”
“Every word of it,” was the response. “We must go at once. If we get there in time we may be able to find the culprit.”
The naturalists grabbed their hats and dashed out of the office and through the building to the outside. Bob and Joe followed them, although without knowing where they were going.