“So have I,” said Harry, dolefully. “And it was such good fun until this morning, wasn’t it?”
“It wasn’t bad. You stay here, and I’ll see if I can find out where the nearest station is. You aren’t afraid, are you?”
“N—no,” answered Harry, “I’ll stay near the door.”
She had no chance to be lonesome, for ten minutes after Chub left, almost the entire population of the village had appeared on the scene, eager for details of the robbery, anxious to see the broken door, and highly curious about Harry. Meanwhile Chub, seated behind Cæsar and beside Bennie Hooper, was being taken to Washington Hills and the sheriff. Chub found the sheriff in the middle of a horse trade in front of the livery-stable. When, however, he had stated his errand the horse trade was adjourned, and the sheriff followed Chub and Bennie back to the scene of the robbery in his side-bar buggy.
The sheriff was a young, alert man, and Chub had to own that he seemed quite intelligent. But he didn’t offer them much hope.
“I reckon,” he said, after he had looked over the premises and heard all the particulars they could give him, “that whoever done this job has got away before this. Tramps, likely as not. It looks like their sort of work; bungly, you see; took no pains to hide their tracks. They was hungry and couldn’t find any place that looked more promising. Probably had a gunny-sack and filled it, and then went back to the railroad. The old lady was lucky they didn’t take more.”
“But doesn’t it seem funny,” asked Chub, “that they should know the place was empty?”
“Well, you left a note on the door, didn’t you? Maybe they prowled around, found that, didn’t see any lights, and concluded they’d take a chance. Probably they tried the windows and couldn’t open ’em without breaking the glass, and then went around back. Well, I’ll see what can be done. But I guess it’s a hopeless job. Like as not they’re ten miles or even twenty miles away by now. Maybe they caught a freight. But I’ll telegraph up and down the road. You leave it to me, sir. Tell Mrs. Peel I’ll let her know if anything comes up.”
He climbed into his buggy and was off again. They watched him go and then locked the store and went back to the boat. It was almost noon, and Dick and Roy had just returned after a fruitful journey to the neighboring farm.