"For the speeder, maybe," replied Matt.
"They wouldn't keep the gasoline supply for the speeder so far from the track, would they?"
"I shouldn't think so; still, I can't imagine what else they'd want gasoline for."
"What sort of a game was Bunce up to? If Grattan was here, then everything was going right, so far as the plan to capture Grattan was concerned. Why didn't Bunce wait for us, back there in the timber, and give us the chance to come on here and put the kibosh on the man we want?"
"It's a mystery, Joe," said the puzzled Matt. "Perhaps Bunce believed that we'd be captured by the section men and that it wouldn't be possible to get hold of Grattan. If he thought that, he might have come on to this place, given his New York report to Grattan, and made up his mind to see the rascally game through to a finish. Bunce couldn't have any idea that we'd escape from the section gang."
"Well," growled McGlory, "he might have waited and made certain of it."
There was no accounting for the queer actions of the mariner. It seemed as though, after the collision with the railroad tie and the coming of the section men, he had changed his mind about helping the boys capture Grattan.
Matt and McGlory moved around under the ledge, trying to find something else that would point positively to the presence of Grattan in the "pocket."
There was a strong odor of gasoline—much stronger than would have come from the uncorked, empty can. Suddenly Matt found something, and hurriedly called his chum.
"What is it?" inquired McGlory, running to Matt's side.