"It is a portion of the goods they stole!" Dan cried. "Stop rowing, Sam, and if nothing happens we'll soon know where the whole lot is to be hidden."
CHAPTER XIV.
THE RENDEZVOUS.
That Dan's surmise was correct could be seen a few moments after, while the boys, partially concealed by the overhanging bank, watched the proceedings with but little danger of being discovered.
On the shore were a number of packages in a cart, and these the supposed burglars loaded into the boat with the utmost haste.
If this lot comprised all that had been taken from Uncle Nathan his loss must have been greater than he stated, and Teddy said, after watching several moments in silence:
"I reckon this is only part of what they took; but I'm puzzled to know how it could have been brought so far. The idea of carting goods over here to find a place in which to hide them is a queer one, when all the thieves had to do was slip down the river in a skiff, an' before morning they'd be beyond reach of the officers."
It surely was strange that the men should have done so much useless labor, and the only solution to the apparent mystery was offered by Sam, who said, with an air of superior wisdom:
"They've done it to throw me off the scent. That fakir we saw in Waterville must have known who I was."