Cautiously Tom peered over the screen of bushes.
"Who is it?" asked Mr. Damon.
"It's Happy Harry!" said Tom. "We'll get them all, now. He's going up to the house."
They watched the tramp. All unconscious of the eyes of the men and boy in the bushes, he kept on. Presently the door of the house opened, and a man came out. Tom recognized him as Anson Morse--the person who had dropped the telegram.
"Say, Burke," called the man at the door, "have you taken the motor-boat?"
"Motor-boat? No," answered the tramp. "I just came here. I've had a hard time--nearly got caught in Swift's house the other night by that cub of a boy. Is the boat gone?"
"Yes. Appleson came back in it last night and saw some one looking in the window, but we thought it was only a farmer and chased him away. This morning the boat's gone. I thought maybe you had taken it for a joke."
"Not a bit of it! Something's wrong!" exclaimed Happy Harry. "We'd better light out. I think the police are after us. That young Swift is too sharp for my liking. We'd better skip. I don't believe that was a farmer who looked in the window. Tell the others, get the stuff, and we'll leave this locality."
"They're here still," whispered Tom. "That's good!"
"I wonder if Munson and Dwight are at the lake yet?" asked Mr. Damon. "They ought to be--"