“Neither did I. He purposely kept his hat pulled low over his eyes. Heck, just our luck to let him get away! For all we know, he might even be the one who stole the money box.”
“That’s possible,” Brad agreed. “Our best bet is to put police on his trail. If we can furnish a good description, they may be able to pick him up.”
Circling the block to make certain the intruder had not emerged elsewhere in the vicinity, the boys sought a policeman. Unable to find one in the neighborhood, they telephoned their report to the Central station.
“Well, that’s done,” Brad said in relief. “Now let’s hustle back to Merrimac’s place and find out if the old man’s been hurt. I’ve got a mighty uneasy feeling.”
Upon arriving at the Merrimac home a few minutes later, the boys saw that the kitchen window remained wide open.
“Raise me up and I’ll look in,” Dan proposed.
Brad lifted him so that he could grab the sill and partly support his own weight.
“See anything?”
“There’s no one on the floor. But I can only see the kitchen. Think I should crawl on in?”
Brad was given no opportunity to decide, for just then a hand was laid heavily upon his shoulder.