"Not to take them down the river, for they would have carried them to some place on its banks if they had wanted to do that. They wanted to take them up the creek, and this was the nearest point to it."
"What did they want to do with the boxes? Oh, I know! They were going to sink the bodies in the creek!" exclaimed Deck.
"That would have been a good enough guess a fortnight ago; but it isn't worth shucks now. I told you before that I could explain things better this afternoon than I could when I saw what the men were doing."
"How is that?" asked Deck with his mouth half open.
"The moment mother told that story from Aunt Amelia, I knew what was in the boxes; and they did not contain bodies, either."
"Oh, I see! They contained the arms and ammunition."
"A blind man could see that."
"Well, that was an adventure. You mean that they were going to put them in the cavern by the sink?"
"Precisely that, and nothing less; and now we are going up to the sink to see for ourselves what is in the boxes," replied Artie.
They had a long pull before them; but they reached the place by five o'clock, and explored the cavern. They found the boxes and two cannons with their carriages. They could not open the boxes for the want of any tools; but the labels assured them they contained muskets and revolvers. They hastened down the creek; but it was eight o'clock when they reached the mansion.