"I'm afraid you'll get into trouble," he declared.
"But," argued Jack, "we ought to do something toward finding those fellows and, if we can locate the house, we can have it searched by officers and have them nabbed if they are there."
Mr. Golden finally consented, but made them promise that they would be very careful and not run any risks. Getting the cook to put them up a good lunch, they were soon ready to start.
"That house," explained Bob, as they rode along side by side, "can't be many miles this side of Oakland. We'll go to Waterville first and then cross over to Oakland, then we'll take the road to Norridgewock and look for that woods road. I suppose we might go by the way of Norridgewock. It would be shorter, but I guess the roads are better the other way."
The road to Skowhegan was rough and mostly down hill, and they did not dare to run very fast, but once outside the latter town, on the road to Waterville, they let the machines out and reached the city in forty-five minutes from the time they left home. As they rode through the city, people stared in amazement at them as they failed to hear the customary chug-chug of the engine.
They made no stop and were soon in Oakland, a little village about three miles to the west of Waterville. Here they stopped at a drug store for a glass of soda water, as the ride had made them thirsty. When they came out, they found that several people had collected and were examining the wheels.
"Say, bub, what kind of an engine you got here?" asked one man.
Now neither of the boys liked being called "bub," but they had been taught to be polite, and Jack explained that it was an electric motor.
"Well—well, I want to know! How do you run it?"
"Oh, that's a secret," laughed Bob, as they got into the saddles and rode off.