“Yes, we’re in for a storm, I guess,” said Jennings. “We get them pretty bad up this way when they do come, too.”
“Regular hummers, eh?” asked Harry.
“I guess that’s the word for it. The old timers say that they follow the river. I don’t know how that may be, but I do know that I never saw worse electric storms than we get right along the St. Lawrence.”
Adams and Prescott, who had received directions by telephone from the inspector’s office, were ready and waiting for them when they arrived at the custom house. They were placed in possession of the facts of the case by Jennings, as they and the boys hastened to the yacht club dock.
Both were warm in their praises of the way the boys had handled the situation, and waxed humorous over their practical arrest as suspects. Percy and Harry, however, failed to see anything screamingly comical about it.
The dock was reached and then and there the party received a big surprise.
The lights of the River Swallow were not in sight!
So far as could be observed, no boat lay at anchor where the boys had left the speedy craft.
A search conducted from the motor tender only confirmed their worst fears. The River Swallow had vanished, and on board her was Ralph, alone and in the power of the gem smugglers.