The rope which had done such good service was attached to Blue Lightning again, and as the boys had seen quite enough,—almost too much,—of the volcano, they began the descent without delay. The guide was full of all sorts of explanations for his action in dropping the rope, but as may be imagined the boys did not pay much attention to him.
As they rode into Glenwood in plenty of time to catch the evening train back to Hilo, a white-uniformed native policeman came up to them.
“You are to come with me,” he said.
“Delighted. But what for?” asked Herc. “Has some big-wig invited us to dinner?”
“No, you are under arrest.”
“Arrest!” cried Ned.
“What for, for trespassing inside the crater?” demanded Herc.
“I don’t know what you mean. You are charged with assault on Onamee, a farmer back on the mountain.”
A great light burst on both boys.
“Oh, it’s the picnic party we broke up,” cried Herc. “Well, you’d better arrest the goat for that.”