“Yes; you know very well it was robbed.”
“I knew nothing of the kind. We were not in this neighborhood last night.”
“Then how comes it I find you trespassin’ on my property?” demanded Dave. “Tell me that.”
“We didn’t know it was your property. We came up the lake in our canoes, searching for a place to camp for the night. This seemed to be the nicest looking spot, so we came ashore.”
“That’s a pretty good tale, but it won’t work. You ain’t got no proof.”
“We have plenty of proof. You say your house was robbed last night?”
“Yes, sir; last night. The thieves got away with eighty dollars in gold that I had locked in a bureau drawer.”
“Well, last night we camped on the shores of Lake George, and at noon to-day we entered Lake Champlain and took dinner at a little village called Delano.”
“Delano? Look out—I know where that is. I may take a notion to telephone down there and look you fellers up.”
“Just what we’re trying to get you to do. Practically the whole village saw us land there, and saw us start north after we had eaten our meal. So now that we have some basis of proof on which to proceed, suppose you look us up, and let’s have done with this nonsense.”