Like a cat he crept across the room and fumbled with his hand till he found the knob. The door squeaked slightly as he pulled it open, and one of the sleepers stirred and mumbled something about an electric boat. Bob's heart seemed to come almost into his throat, but in a minute the regular breathing of the sleeper reassured him and he edged into the closet. There were quite a lot of clothes hanging there, but he had not searched far when he felt something hard in one of the pockets, and the next instant he had transferred the precious caps to his own pocket.
"Now for a quick get-away," he muttered. But it seemed that Bob's good luck was to end right there, for as he stepped out of the closet his foot caught in something on the floor, and he fell forward into the room with a crash that fairly shook the house.
CHAPTER IV.
THE TRY-OUT.
"Oh, Mr. Burglar, please don't hurt me."
This was what Bob heard as he picked himself up from the floor. The room was pitch dark, but it was evident that both the boys in the bed had been awakened by the noise and that they were also in a state of terror. Taking advantage of their panic, Bob quickly found his way to the hall and flashing his light, ran down the stairs and out the front door. Just as he stepped from the porch a revolver shot rang out from an upper window.
"Guess they got up enough spunk to get out of bed," chuckled Bob, as he crouched behind a convenient bush, and he could not resist the temptation to sing out, "Next time you steal anything you better not talk so loudly about where you hide it."
"I'll have you arrested for burglary, Bob Golden," came in angry tones from the window.
"All right, go ahead," replied Bob, "but I guess you'll have a fine time explaining how my property came to be in your coat pocket."
He waited to hear no more, but making his way as quickly as possible to where he had left the canoe, he lost no time in getting it into the water. Jumping in he bent to the paddle with all his strength and in about a half hour rounded the point, just behind which was the boathouse. He found Jack and Mike waiting for him on the porch.
"Gee, I thought you'd never come," said Jack. "Did you get them?"