looking into the barrel of a .32.

"Now, my young friend, I rather guess you will reconsider your
conclusion. I don't want to hurt you, but I'd much prefer putting a
bullet through you to letting you get away. Now, about face and march
down to the laboratory again, and no monkey shines, or this here gun
will be apt to go off, for when I get excited, my finger gets twitchy,
and remember, if it does go off, the bullet will come out of the end
that's pointing at you."

All this had probably not taken over a minute, but during that time,
Bob had been doing some quick thinking and had resolved that, gun or
no gun, he was not going to lose this chance. They passed out into the
dining room, Reed following Bob at a distance of perhaps six feet.
Reaching the door, at the head of the stairs, Bob pretended that he
was trying to open it.

"It seems to be locked," he said, "Guess the wind must have blown it
shut."

"Well, hold on a minute, I've got a key in my pocket."

Bob turned and saw that Reed had lowered the revolver a little as he
searched his pocket for the key. It was the chance he wanted. Like a
flash he leaped, and before the startled man could raise his arm, his
wrist was seized and given a powerful twist, which sent the revolver
spinning to the other side of the room. Reed, maddened to the point of
frenzy, struggled with all his strength, and he was no mean
antagonist, but Bob knew that he was fighting for his liberty, if not
for his life, and fought as he had never fought before. Round the room
they struggled, knocking over the chairs as they fought. Once the man
got the boy down on his back, and with his hand on his throat, began
to choke him, but Bob managed to squirm over, and, getting to his
knees, flung one arm round Reed's neck, and giving a powerful twist
made him lose his hold. Both quickly rose to their feet and stood
facing each other, panting for breath. Suddenly, catching sight of the
revolver on the floor near his feet, Reed made a move toward it. But
the movement gave Bob the chance he wanted, and, springing forward,
he swung his right arm with all the strength he could muster. His fist
landed squarely on the man's right eye, and he went down in a heap. He
was not knocked out, but the blow gave Bob time to grab up the
revolver, and by the time Reed was on his feet again, he took his turn
at looking down the barrel.

"Now, my old friend, I guess I'll have to ask you to recognize that
conclusion you spoke of a few moments ago. This thing don't look quite
so good at that end, does it? Give my regards to your friend below, if
you can get enough life in him to accept them."

So saying, he backed out of the room into the hall, still pointing the
revolver at the man, who stood looking daggers at him, but not daring
to move, and this time reached the street without mishap.

"Whew!" he thought, as he slipped the revolver into his pocket, "that
was some exciting time while it lasted. Well, I'm free at last and
I'll take mighty good care that they don't get me again. Wonder which
way I'd better go?"

Although well acquainted with a good part of Boston, as he looked
about him he had no idea in what part of the city he was, except that
it was one of the poorer districts.

Coming to the harbor front, he turned toward the south, judging that
the ferry was in that direction. He had gone but a few squares, when
he heard the cry of fire, and glancing down a side street which led to
the water's edge, he saw a number of men and boys running toward an
old house near the water and about a square from where he was
standing.

"Guess I'll see what's doing," he thought as he turned and started to
run down the street.

Coming opposite the house, which stood somewhat apart by itself, he
saw that it was a three-story frame structure, and the flames were
already visible through the windows of the first floor, while smoke
was pouring from those of the first and second stories.

"It won't last ten minutes," said a man standing next to him, "the
walls will fall in before the fire engine gets here."

"Are the people all out?" asked Bob.

"Dunno, guess so. Don't see any one, do you?"

But, at that moment, a figure appeared at a front third-story window
and shouted for help. At the sound of the voice, Bob's heart almost
stopped beating, and shading his eyes with his hand, he gazed eagerly
upward. "It can't be possible," he thought, "but that was Jack's voice
sure as guns, and what's more, it looks like him." Just then, the boy
gave another wild cry for help.

"My soul, that's Jack," he groaned, "sure as fate. Quick," he shouted,
"where's a ladder?"

The cry was taken up by the crowd, and in a minute, a man pushed his
way through the crowd, carrying a fairly long ladder. Eager hands
seized it and raised it toward the boy, but alas for their hopes, it
reached only to the middle of the second story window, too short by
nearly eight feet. Bob gave a groan, but just then he saw a store on
the opposite side of the street, and rushing across, he darted in. "A
coil of rope," he shouted, but there was no one there. Just at that
moment, however, a man rushed in, and hearing Bob's cry, darted to the
back part of the store, to return almost instantly, dragging about
twenty feet of rope after him. Snatching the end of the rope from his
hand, Bob rushed back across the street rapidly coiling it as he ran.
By the time he reached the foot of the ladder the smoke and flames
were pouring from the windows in great clouds and the entire front of
the house was tottering.

"Can't do it," shouted a man, "it'll fall before you can get up."

"I'm going to do it anyway," muttered the boy as he started to ascend.

The heat was terrific, and the smoke nearly choked him, but he fought
his way upward rung by rung. It seemed that he would never reach the
top, as the rungs of the ladder were so hot they fairly blistered his
hands and the walls threatened to fall at any moment, but he did it,
and bracing himself by putting one foot through the ladder, he grasped
one end of the rope in his right hand, holding the coil in his left.

"Now, Jack, catch it," he shouted.

"Great guns, Bob, how'd you get here?"

"Never mind now, catch this rope," and he threw it up toward the
window with all the strength he had left, which was not very much. By
rare good fortune Jack caught it.

"Quick, now, fasten it to something, this wall won't last much
longer."

Jack disappeared for what seemed to Bob a long time, but at last he
saw him at the window again.

"I've got it," he shouted.

"All right, now, come down while I hold this end."

Jack swung himself from the window and came down the rope hand over
hand and soon had his feet on the top rung of the ladder.

"Now, quick, we haven't a second to lose," cried Bob, as he started to
descend. "Are you all right?"

"Sure thing, look out, I'm coming," shouted Jack.

By this time several of the rungs were on fire, and two or three broke
as Bob stepped on them, but he managed to keep his hold, and, reaching
the ground, looked up to see Jack half way down. But, now the ladder
was so weakened that, as the boy stepped on to the next rung, it
swayed and broke fairly in two, and at that instant, the entire front
of the building fell in with a tremendous crash.

Jack, however, was safe. He had felt the ladder, as well as the wall,
going and had managed to throw himself backward away from the burning
building. He fell only about eight feet and landed on his feet unhurt.
Running quickly back, away from the intense heat, the two boys hugged
each other in a frenzy of joy, while the crowd set up a great shout of
gladness.

"You saved my life, old man, but for mercy sakes, how did you get
here?"

"It's too long a story to tell now," replied Bob, "let's try to get
out of this crowd."

Although many tried to detain them, the two boys managed to slip away
just as a fire engine, with a great ringing of bells, dashed on to the
scene.

CHAPTER XIV.

ON THE KIDNAPPER'S TRAIL.

The two boys were pretty well tired out from the strain through which
they had just passed and they both had several bad burns on their
hands, which, now that the excitement was over, began to assert
themselves. They had not walked far when they saw a small park, where
were some benches, and Jack proposed that they sit down and rest up a
bit. As he knew that Bob had been taken to Boston, naturally the
latter was the more surprised of the two on seeing his brother there,
and as soon as they were seated on a bench Bob said:

"Now, Jack, tell me all about it, quick, and then I'll give you an
account of my racket."

So Jack, starting from the time Bob disappeared, told him all that had
happened. When he reached the point where we left him, he said:

"I tell you what, Bob, when I found that those rascals had varmoused
and left me locked in that burning house, I was scared. I pounded on
the door and yelled till I was hoarse and when no one came I was
about ready to give up. By this time the room was pretty full of
smoke, and my eyes smarted so that I could hardly keep them open and
the floor was so hot, that I had to fairly dance, and it was getting
hotter every minute. I had managed to get my clothes on by this time
and started to see if I could kick a hole in the door, but it was too
strong and I could make no impression on it."

"Couldn't you cut a hole in it with your knife?" asked Bob.

"I thought of that, but I had lost my knife somewhere. Well, just as I
thought that all hope was gone, I remembered that there was a hole
about two feet square in the ceiling at one end of the room. It was
fully eight feet from the floor, but I took the cot and leaned it
against the wall and managed, by climbing up on it, to reach the edge
of the opening and climb up through. I found myself in an empty room
running the entire length of the house. There was a stairway at the
other end and I ran to it, but the smoke was pouring up in clouds and
I could see that the stairs were ablaze and the room below full of
fire, so I didn't dare to risk it. I thought then it was all up with
me, but it was a little cooler up there and I managed to get one of
the front windows open, and you know the rest. I tell you, Bob, old
man, you never looked so good to me as you did coming up that ladder
with the rope in your hand. I think I should have jumped in another
two minutes. But, now tell me all about yourself. Where have you been
and how did you get away?"

Then Bob gave him a full account of his adventures and when he told
how he had hit Reed on the nose, Jack said, "Good enough for him, wish
I'd been there." Then, when Bob had finished, he asked, "But why do
you suppose Reed pushed me overboard? It must have been he."

"Of course it was," answered Bob, "there's no one else who would do it
except King and it couldn't have been he, for he was with me at the
time. I suppose he saw you, and thinking you might make trouble for
them, he probably thought he would dispose of you."

"I guess that's about the way of it, leastwise, that's the way I
figured it out. Hello, there's a cop; suppose we ask him where we
are."

They soon learned that they were only about a half mile from the
station, and as they were well rested, they decided that they would go
there and take the train for their Uncle Ben's in Winthrop.

Reaching the station, they found a train about to leave, and in less
than a half hour, they were getting off at Winthrop Beach. Uncle Ben's
house was but a few minutes' walk from the station and soon they were
ringing the bell, and their Aunt Lucy answered it.

"Why, it's Bob and Jack," she cried as she saw them. "Where did you
come from? My, but I'm glad to see you," and without giving them time
to speak, she grabbed one in each arm and gave them a good hug and
kiss.

"Where's Uncle Ben?" asked Bob as soon as he could get the question
in.

"He had to go to the bank, but I expect him out on the next train, as
he said he was only going to stay a little while. But there, I'll bet
you haven't had any lunch and are as hungry as two young bears. Come
right in and we'll have something to eat in less than no time."

"How are all the folks?" asked Aunt Lucy, as they sat down.

"Fine and dandy," replied Jack, "but my goodness, Bob, we must call
them up right off. Can I use the 'phone, auntie?"

The 'phone was in the front hall and Jack was gone some little time,
but at last he returned. Just as they began to eat, the door opened
and Uncle Ben entered the room. He was no less delighted to see the
boys than Aunt Lucy had been, and the meal was a merry one. The boys
said nothing regarding their adventures till the lunch was over, then
Bob said:

"Uncle Ben, we've got quite a long story to tell you."

"Is that so? Well, fire away."

So Bob began and told them all about their adventures. He was
interrupted many times by expressions of horror and indignation from
Uncle Ben and Aunt Lucy.

"Well, of all the happenings," declared Uncle Ben, when he had
finished. "Say, Bob, do you think you can find that house where they
had you?"

"Yes, I think so. It was in East Boston, 54 Uhl street. I noticed the
number of the house and the street as I ran out."

"That's in one of the worst sections of the city," declared Uncle Ben.
"Now, boys, if you are not too tired we must take the next train to
the city and report this to the police, and we may be in time to catch
them. The scoundrels, they must be caught and punished if possible;
it's not safe to have them at large."

Both boys declared that they were not tired, and, as the next train
left in about fifteen minutes, they started at once.

In a short time they reached East Boston and took the ferry across.

"It must have been here that I went overboard," said Jack as they were
about half way across, and he shuddered as he looked down at the
water. "I wouldn't want to go through that again."

"I should say not," said Uncle Ben. "Oh, by the way, Jack, you didn't
see either of those fellows round the house after the fire, did you?"

"No, I never thought a thing about them."

"Well, they ought to be found and locked up, for they undoubtedly
intended to rob you, and were probably going to make your father pay a
big sum of money."

"Yes, I guess that's so," agreed Jack, "but then they saved my life
and I'd rather call it square."

"Well, if that's the way you feel about it," said Uncle Ben, "we won't
say anything to the captain about them."

Reaching the other side of the harbor, they lost no time in getting a
car, which took them to State street, where was the police station of
which Uncle Ben's friend was captain.

"Is Captain Long in?" he asked a sergeant, who was sitting at the desk
as they entered.

"I think so, sir, please wait a moment and I'll see." Touching a bell
on his desk, he ordered the attendant to see if the captain was in his
office.

"Right, sir," said the man going out.

He was back in a minute, and telling them that Captain Long would see
them at once, conducted them through several rooms into his private
office.

"Why, hello Ben," greeted a large broad-shouldered man, wearing the
uniform of a police captain, as they were ushered into the room. "Come
to give yourself up?"

"Not just yet, Harry. These are my two nephews from Maine," he said,
introducing the boys, "I think likely you've seen them around my
house, but I guess you've never met them."

The captain expressed himself as pleased to know them, and then
motioning them to sit down, asked:

"Now, what can I do for you?"

"Well, Harry," answered Uncle Ben, "these two youngsters have been
through enough to turn your hair gray." Then turning to Bob, he said:
"Tell him your story as quickly as you can, for every minute may
count."

So, for the third time that day Bob gave an account of his kidnapping,
only this time he made it as brief as possible. The captain said
nothing till he had finished, but they could see that he was not
losing a word.

"Give me as careful a description of those two men as you can," he
ordered, and Bob obeyed.

"This is indeed serious," said the captain, turning to Mr. Golden when
Bob had finished. "I'll bet you my cap that the smaller of the two men
is Jim the Penman, and if that's right, he is one of the most wanted
men in the country today. Why, there's a reward of $10,000 for him,
and that other fellow may be Oily Joe; they have worked together a
good bit and are two of the most expert counterfeiters in the world.
The two of them have given us a lot of trouble. I'm mighty glad you
came to me, although I'm afraid it's too late, as they've probably
skipped, but we'll make a try for them and it's possible we may be on
time."

He touched a button on his desk, and an officer entered.

"Have the patrol out at once with six of the best men available," he
ordered, "Report to me here. Let's see," he said, as the man saluted
and retired, "you said 54 Uhl street. That's over across the ferry."

In less than two minutes a knock sounded and at the captain's "come
in," six uniformed policemen entered. Quickly, he explained the
situation to them and gave his orders.

"The driver will let you out about two squares this side of the house,
and I'll be there by the time you are, and tell you how to arrange
things."

He gave them the address and saluting, they left the room.

"Don't lose a minute," he shouted as the last man went out.

"Now," said Captain Long, turning to Mr. Golden and the boys, "don't
you want to come along with me in my car?"

"We sure do," cried both boys together, and even Uncle Ben seemed no
less anxious.

"All right then, this way," and he led them out to the street.

His car, a powerful two-seated machine, stood in front of the station
house, the chauffeur dozing on the front seat, but he sprang to
activity as he heard the captain's voice.

Quickly, they entered the machine, Captain Long giving the direction
to the driver, and just as they started, the patrol whizzed by, the
horses at full gallop.

CHAPTER XV.

THE COUNTERFEITER'S DEN.

They passed the patrol just as they reached the ferry and all crossed
together. Reaching the other side, the machine soon distanced the
patrol, and, after running for about ten minutes, the captain told the
driver to stop and the car drew up at the curb.

"The place is only two squares away," he explained, "and we'll wait
here for the patrol."

It came dashing up in a few moments and the men got out.

"Now, two of you go round by Clear street, and come up by the back
way," ordered the captain, "and two more go up Clover a couple of
blocks and then turn down Front, which will bring you to the front of
the house. The rest of you wait here a few moments, and then go
straight there and we'll follow about a square behind. Now, don't make
any noise till we are all there, but if you see any one leave the
house, arrest him at once."

Four of the men saluted and started off in the directions ordered,
and, after waiting five minutes, the other two left, followed a moment
later by the captain and the Goldens. Arriving at the house, they
found the four officers there.

"Are the others round back?" asked the captain.

"Yes, sir," answered one of the men.

"See any one?"

"No, sir."

"All right then, you wait here and I'll ring the bell." This he did,
but no one answered the summons.

"Guess they've skipped," said one of the men.

After ringing several times, Captain Long said:

"Two of you stay here and the rest of us will go round to the rear,
and see if we can get in without smashing a door, and," he added,
"keep an eye on those side windows."

They found the two officers waiting at the rear.

"Seen anything?" asked Captain Long.

"Not a thing," was the reply.

They found the back door locked with the key on the inside, and,
remarking that he guessed they would have to break a window, the
captain took a small diamond glass cutter from his pocket and
scratched a circle about six inches in diameter on the window pane,
just above the catch. A quick push shoved it in, and reaching his hand
through, he soon had the window open.

"Now, Bill," he said, turning to one of the men, "you jump in and
unlock the door."

"In a minute they were in the house, and passing through to the front
door, admitted the others. Leaving one man on guard at the front door,
another at the rear, while a third was stationed in the middle room,
the rest made a thorough search of the upper part of the house. But,
to their disappointment, they found no one. They returned to the first
floor and the captain said:

"Now we'll go down to the basement."

Bob found the room looking about as he had left it earlier in the day,
except that King was no longer there. He showed them the cylinder, on
which he had been at work, and which he found lying on the floor. They
made a careful search of the room, but found nothing of an
incriminating nature and were about to return upstairs, when Jack, had
been looking over a desk in one corner of the room shouted:

"Come over here a minute, I believe I've found something."

He had noticed a piece of paper lying partly concealed, under one
corner of the desk and had moved it slightly to get the paper without
tearing it, when he noticed a break in the flooring, and on moving the
desk a little farther, he saw a small ring in the floor.

"I believe there's a trap door here," he declared as they came over to
where he was.

It was but a moment's work to shove the desk out of the way, and sure
enough, there was a trap door about two feet square. One of the
officers took hold of the ring, and a second later they were gazing
down into a pitch-black hole. Captain Long kneeled down and flashed
the light from an electric torch into the space below.

"Jove," he shouted, "here's a find sure enough; I'm going down and the
rest of you follow."

It was a large room about twenty feet long by twelve feet wide. The
walls were of brick, and so far as they could see, there was no break
in them. The room was lighted by several incandescent electric lights,
which one of the men had turned on. Looking around, they found that
the room contained an electric furnace, such as is used for melting
bullion, a small printing press, and several other pieces of
machinery, which the captain recognized as pertaining to the making of
counterfeit money. They also found several dies for stamping quarters
and half dollars, as well as a number of plates for printing bills of
ten and twenty dollar denominations. Several pounds of lead and
copper, together with a smaller amount of silver and gold was also
found.

"I'm mighty sorry that we didn't get the rascals," declared Captain
Long, "but this find is well worth our while."

He started to mount the ladder, telling the others to follow him, when
a very astonishing thing happened. Suddenly the trap door banged down
and at the same time the lights went out, while a mocking laugh
sounded from above. Quickly, the captain sprang up the ladder, and
bracing himself, pushed with all his strength against the door, but it
did not so much as budge.

"We're trapped, sure as fate," he said, as he gave it up and came down
the ladder. "Where do you suppose those fellows were hid all the
time?"

"They probably had some secret hiding place which we didn't find,"
declared Mr. Golden.

"I guess that's about the size of it. Here, Bill, I guess you and Fred
are the strongest, you two get up on that ladder and see if you can
make any impression on that door. I wonder how, in the name of all
that's funny, they have fastened it, for I didn't see any lock on it."

The two officers did as ordered, but in spite of their most strenuous
efforts, they could make no impression on it. They did, however, make
a most decided impression on the ladder, for suddenly it broke near
the middle, and the two came tumbling down in a heap. Fortunately,
they were not hurt by the fall and laughed as they picked themselves
up.

"Well, we're in a pretty fix, sure enough," declared Captain Long. "I
should have left one of you on guard, but I never thought of those
fellows being in hiding there after the way we searched the place.
It's a good thing I left word at the station where we were going, but
the rest of the force will sure have the laugh on us."

"Say, do you smell anything?" suddenly asked Bob.

"Seem's though I do," replied two of the officers sniffing.

No one spoke for a moment and then Captain Long said:

"My God, men, that's coal gas and it's getting stronger every minute.
Those devils have turned it in here somehow. Quick," he almost
shouted, "we've got to get out of here at once or we'll all be dead
men in less than ten minutes."

By this time the odor of the gas was very strong and was rapidly
getting stronger. Several of the officers were equipped with electric
torches, and using them, they made a hurried search of the walls to
see if by chance there was any opening which they had overlooked
before, but nothing of the kind could they find.

"Gee, but I'm getting sleepy," said one of the men.

"We'll all be worse than sleepy in about a minute," groaned another.

"Well," spoke up Mr. Golden, "It's hard to die penned up like this,
but if it's God's will, let us meet it like men."

"Oh, what'll my poor wife and babies do?" groaned the man who had
spoken before.

But little more was said. Bob got hold of Jack's hand and whispered:

"It'll be an easy death, old man."

"I know," replied Jack. "I'm not afraid, but I do wish we could see
the folks."

The deadly gas was rapidly getting in it's work, and three of the
officers were already stretched on the floor, while the others were
breathing heavily. Bob's head was swimming and he knew that he would
be unconscious in another moment. He stretched himself out on the
floor, putting one arm around the neck of Jack, who was already lying
down. The other arm he stretched out along the floor, and as he did
so, suddenly his fingers felt an iron ring. Hardly knowing what he
did, he began to pull on it. To his surprise, he felt it give, and
summoning all his remaining strength, he rose to his knees and gave a
quick yank to it. A trap door opened, letting in a rush of cool fresh
air. It partially revived him and he shouted.

"Quick, here's a way out."

Only Mr. Golden and the captain were conscious, and they dragged
themselves, as quickly as possible, to the opening.

The inrush of air had cleared the gas away from the open door
somewhat, and Mr. Golden had strength enough to whisper:

"You and the captain go down the hole quickly and I'll try to pass the
others down to you."

Quickly lowering himself over the edge, Bob found himself in a passage
way about three feet wide where the air was perfectly fresh, and
coming through with a strong draft. He felt much stronger at once. In
an instant, the captain had followed him, dragging Jack with him.

"I'm afraid we'll never be able to get them all out," he gasped, "but
this draft is carrying the gas out and it's not so bad as it was."

Mr. Golden succeeded in dragging two of the men to the opening, where
they were grabbed by Bob and the captain, and dragged a few feet along
the passageway. But now his strength gave out, and as Bob grabbed the
third man and pulled him through, Mr. Golden fell unconscious half way
through the opening. The captain caught him and dragged him through
and Bob said:

"I'll get the rest."

Without waiting for a reply, he lifted himself through the opening, an
electric torch in his hand. The gas had been driven out so that it
was not so very bad, and he soon succeeded in getting the last man
out. As he again lowered himself through the opening, he closed the
trap door after him. Jack and three of the men, as well as Mr. Golden
had, by this time, somewhat revived, and in a short time two others
came to and were able to sit up, but the last one brought out still
lay as one dead.

"Now, let's see where this passage leads to," said Captain Long, "but
two of you stay with Ed and keep moving his arms up and down and I
guess he'll come round all right."

The rest started forward, by the light of their torches, and after
walking about a block, they came to a flight of stone steps. Mounting
these they found themselves in the kitchen of an old house, which
seemed to be deserted.

"Two of you fellows go back and get the rest and we'll wait here,"
ordered Captain Long.

In a short time they returned with the others. The man called Ed had
revived, but was not able to walk, and two of the officers had carried
him through the passageway.

"We were certainly fortunate to get out of that alive," declared Uncle
Ben, solemnly.

"Indeed we were," agreed Captain Long. "If Bob hadn't hit on that ring
just when he did, we'd all been past help by this time." Then, turning
to the officers, he asked, "How are you fellows feeling now?"

All declared that they were all right, with the exception of Ed, who
was still pretty weak.

"All right then, one of you take him to the patrol and the rest of us
will go back to that house and see if we can find those fellows this
time."

CHAPTER XVI.

BUT THE BIRDS HAD FLOWN.

As they were on the way back to the house, Jack turned to Bob, who was
walking beside him and said:

"I hope to goodness that our adventures for today are about through. I
tell you what, coming so near to death twice in one day is a bit too
strenuous to suit me."

They soon reached the house and entered by the front door, which they
found unlocked, with drawn revolvers. The room smelled strongly of
gas, but they quickly opened the windows, and it was soon nearly all
driven out. They searched the house as before, but with no success and
finally came to the laboratory. Here the gas was pretty bad, but one
of the officers soon found where it was turned on and shut it off.
They were, however, unable to find the secret hiding place of the
counterfeiters, although they searched for some time. At last the
captain said:

"Well, I guess we'll have to give it up for now, but I'm going to
leave two of you men here to keep watch, and I'll send some one to
relieve you as soon as I get back to the station." Then, turning to
Mr. Golden, "We might as well be going now, I'm not going to have that
stuff down there removed till tomorrow."

On their way back Bob said that they must take the night train for
home, as their parents would be anxious to see them, but Uncle Ben
said:

"Your Aunt Lucy and I intended to run down to Skowhegan in a few days
anyway, and if you'll wait till morning, we'll all go together in the
car. We'll telephone as soon as we get back to the house and then
we'll get an early start tomorrow. What do you say?"

The boys eagerly agreed to this plan, and by the time it was settled
they were at the ferry where they said goodby to Captain Long.

The latter went at once to the station house and sent out a general
alarm for the apprehension of the counterfeiters, but we will say here
that they were not caught.

On their way to Winthrop, Uncle Ben asked the two boys to say nothing
to Aunt Lucy regarding their narrow escape, as it would worry her, and
they promised to be careful and not let it out in her hearing.

It was nearly suppertime when they reached home, and Jack at once
called up his father and told him of their plans, while Bob gave his
aunt an account of their afternoon's trip, carefully avoiding,
however, any mention of their being locked in the counterfeiter's den.

"It's too bad they escaped," she said when he had finished.

Uncle Ben then told her of their plans for the morrow, and she said
she guessed she could get ready in time, although it was pretty short
notice.

As the boys were very tired after such a strenuous day, they were in
bed before nine o'clock.

"We want to be off by six o'clock," shouted Uncle Ben, as they went up
stairs, "and I'll have to pull you out by five."

"All right," answered Jack, "we'll be ready."

After they were undressed they did not forget to kneel down by the bed
and thank their heavenly Father for His care over them.

"George, but this has been some exciting day," declared Jack as he
tumbled into bed, closely followed by Bob. "I don't think I would care
to go through that mess again."

"I should say not," agreed Bob, "we might not get off so lucky next
time. I don't believe we'll ever be any nearer death again, till our
time comes, than we were this afternoon."

"I guess you're right there," then suddenly, "Say, Bob, do you suppose
we've seen the last of those two fellows?"

"Hard to tell, but I sure hope so. I'd feel a good bit better if we'd
caught them this afternoon."

"Same here," came sleepily from Jack.

They were too tired to talk any longer and were soon fast asleep.

They were still sleeping soundly, when a little before five o'clock,
their uncle awoke them.

"It's too bad to wake you, boys," he said, "but breakfast is almost
ready, and we've got to be off in about an hour."

They were soon dressed and running downstairs found a hearty breakfast
awaiting them, to which they did full justice.

Mr. Golden's car was a big roomy Lozier, and by six o'clock they were
off. They took the chauffeur with them, although the boys, taking
turns, drove the greater part of the way. They reached Portland by
eleven o'clock, and stopped there for dinner. When nearly to
Waterville, about twenty-five miles from the cottage, a tire blew out,
but as this was their only mishap, they did not complain, and a new
one was quickly substituted. The run up from the latter city was made
in a little over an hour, and they reached the cottage shortly after
six o'clock. The boys were greeted as heroes by their parents and the
girls, and there was great rejoicing over their safe return, old Mike
coming in for his share, the tears fairly rolling down his cheeks as
he grasped their hands saying:

"Begorra and I always did say you byes had more lives nor a cat, and
all ways were sure to land on your fate."

While eating supper, Bob and Jack in turn, gave a full account of
their adventures, except that they said nothing about being so nearly
killed by gas, and their mother's face paled as she realized how
nearly she had lost one, if not both of her boys. When they had
finished, their father said:

"We must keep a sharp lookout for those rascals, although I hardly
think they will dare to show up here again."

"Say, dad," asked Jack, "where's that detective?"

"We haven't seen or heard from him since you left," answered his
father.

Uncle Ben agreed with his brother that the boys should be very
careful, saying:

"There's been a lot in the papers about those fellows, that is if
they're the ones we think they are, and they have a reputation for
daring that has seldom been equaled."

"Well," remarked Bob, "I hope they keep away, as I've had all of their
company that I care about for a while at least."

"Same here," agreed Jack, "but I say, it's mighty funny what's got
that Sharp detective."

He had hardly spoken when the doorbell rang, and as the maid opened it
the detective walked in. When he saw Bob his eyes stuck out, as Jack
after expressed it, as large as saucers.

"Well, I'll be blowed," he cried, "where in the world did you come
from?"

And then the story had to be told over again.

"Well, I'll be blessed," uttered the detective, when they had
finished, "Guess I'm getting too old for a job of this kind. Here I've
been working night and day, and have scoured the country for a
distance of twenty miles in every direction, and didn't get a smell,
and you," turning to Jack, "find him first whack off the reel."

"I didn't find him," declared Jack, "He found me," and he added, "it
was a mighty lucky find for me."

Mr. Sharp seemed very much downcast, but Mr. Golden assured him that
he was sure that he had done all that any one could have done.

"You, of course, didn't know that he had been taken to Boston, and the
two boys meeting as they did was a coincidence, which wouldn't happen
twice in a thousand years. No, you needn't reproach yourself in the
least."

After this the detective felt much better, but remarked that it was
the third time in his twenty years as a detective that he had been
beaten.

Uncle Ben then proposed that they take a run across the lake in the
Sprite and get their trunk, which they had sent by express, and which
ought to be at the hotel. The women folks decided that they wouldn't
go, so Mr. Golden, Uncle Ben, Mr. Sharp, who wanted to catch the night
train for Boston, and the two boys, composed the crew.

"So that's the wonderful cell that all the trouble has been about, is
it?" asked Uncle Ben, as they started. "Well, it certainly is a big
thing and I'm proud of you boys."

On the way across, they told Mr. Golden of their narrow escape in the
counterfeiter's den, and why they had kept silent about it at the
table. He shuddered, as he realized how near death they had been and
said that they had done just right in not letting their mother and
aunt know about it, and Mr. Sharp declared that he was going to take
up the search for them as soon as he got to Boston.

They obtained the trunk, and saying goodby to the detective and
wishing him good luck, started back for the cottage, which they
reached about nine o'clock, and, as they were all tired, they soon
retired for the night.

The boys spent the next day sailing on the lake with the girls, while
their father and uncle went down to Skowhegan, having some business
to attend to. Late in the afternoon the four young people went fishing
and, in a short time, caught a good mess which they had for supper.

That night, as the boys were getting ready for bed, Jack suddenly
said:

"I say, Bob, what's the trouble with fitting up our motorcycles with
electric motors and running them with the cells?"

"Just the thing! Wonder why we didn't think of that before."

"Huh, that's easy, guess we've had our minds fairly full of something
else, lately."

"That's a fact, we have," agreed Bob, "We'll go down on the wheels,
first thing in the morning and see what we can do. I guess likely we
can get the motors at Watson's, and if we can make it a go, we'll have
some bikes."

Right after breakfast the next morning, they got their motorcycles out
and in less than fifteen minutes, were in Watson's store in Skowhegan.
Fortunately, he had two small motors, of ten horsepower each, on hand,
which seemed to the boys to be just what they wanted, and asking him
to send them up to the house at once, they were soon in the laboratory
hard at work.

"You start on a couple sets of caps, Jack, and I'll get the
electrolysis apparatus going and fill a few cylinders," Bob had said
as soon as they got there. By noon, Jack had the caps done, as he had
everything at hand to work with and knew how to do it, and by five
o'clock, they had taken the engines apart and had the wheels all ready
for the installation of the motors.

"Come on now and get washed up," called Bob, as he shut down the
dynamo and took out two cylinders, which, he was pleased to see, were
full. "That's eight we've filled today, but come get a move, we must
catch that five o'clock car or we'll be late to supper."

Edna and May met them at the wharf, in the Sprite, and by six-thirty
they were eating supper and telling the family about their day's work.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE NEW ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE.

Bright and early the next morning found the boys hard at work again.
They were very skillful at this kind of work, and by three o'clock the
motors were clamped in place, the cylinders installed and everything
ready for a tryout. The current was turned on by twisting the
left-hand grip and, as that controlled the entire running part, it was
very simple.

"My goodness, Bob," said Jack, as he straightened up, after making the
last connection, "I'll bet these machines don't weigh more than half
as much as they did before."

"No, I guess they don't. These motors are very light compared with the
gasoline engines, and they're what made the most of the weight. Now,
let's take them out on the road and see how they'll go."

Wheeling the machines out by the basement door, they were soon on the
road in front of the house.

"Well, here goes," cried Jack, jumping into the saddle and giving the
grip a slight turn.

Off he went up the road, followed a moment later by Bob. The wheels
ran perfectly and with no noise except the low humming of the motors,
which could be heard, but a few feet away. They were going at about
twenty-five miles an hour and were using but a small part of their
power.

"Say, old man," shouted Bob, as he rode up beside his brother, "this
is going some, eh?"

"It sure is," was the reply. "It beats the old gasoline engines all to
pieces. I wonder how fast they will go?"

"Shouldn't wonder if they would hit a hundred, but there's a good
stretch, let's let 'em out a little and see what they'll do."

Slowly twisting the grips, they increased their speed till Bob
declared that they were going fully a mile a minute, which he declared
was plenty fast enough for him. But, even then they had not used
nearly all their power. They were delighted with the result of their
work, and as they slowed down, Jack said:

"This must be about the next thing to flying."

"I guess it is," agreed Bob, "but next summer if father'll let us,
we'll do some real flying. I say, son, do you realize what these cells
will mean to an airplane? Just think of the great decrease in weight
and the increase in power."

"Sure thing," replied Jack, no less enthusiastically, "but we better
be getting back now."

They had ridden some five or six miles out into the country and were
passing through a piece of woods, but now brought their wheels to a
stop just after rounding a curve in the road.

"Yes, I guess we had better be getting back," agreed Bob, "It's nearly
four now," he added, looking at his watch. "Let's see how long it
takes us; we ought to make it in about eight minutes."

They had just started to mount their wheels, when they heard a shrill
cry and the rapid pounding of a horse's hoofs, and before they had
time to ask themselves what it was, a light carriage, drawn by a
spirited horse going at full gallop, dashed round the curve. The
carriage, which was swaying from side to side of the road, held a
young girl, and it was evident that she had lost control of the horse.
So quickly had it happened, that the boys barely had time to get their
wheels out of the way as the horse dashed past.

"It's Evelyn Nason," gasped Bob, as he recovered his wits, "and did
you see one of the reins was broken? Come, we've got to catch her."

They quickly mounted their wheels and turned on the power, but Bob's
wheel failed to respond. With a cry of dismay he got off, shouting to
Jack, who was already some distance away.

"Something's wrong with my wheel; go after her."

But Jack was out of hearing and without looking back, he faced after
the runaway, which was dashing down the road in a cloud of dust. He
knew that about a mile farther on, there was a very steep hill, at the
foot of which ran a wide brook, and here the road made a sharp turn
before it led over a narrow bridge. The bridge was a high one, as the
stream ran through a deep gully, and unless the turn was made safely,
he knew that horse and carriage would be dashed over a stone abutment
to the stream, several feet below, as there was only a very flimsy
fence by the roadside at this point. All this ran through Jack's mind
as he raced along, and he realized that if he was to do any good he
must catch the team before it reached the top of this hill. Turning on
still more power, he was soon almost flying along the road, and in a
short time was alongside the carriage.

As he passed it, he stood up in the saddle, leaning forward, his hands
still grasping the handle grips. He was now opposite the horse's head,
and quickly shutting off the power, he straightened up, stood on the
saddle, and leaped with all his might for the head of the maddened
brute. His leap was true and he caught the bridle near the bit with
both hands and hanging on with a bull-dog grip, gradually brought the
horse to a stop right on the brow of the hill.

"I--I guess you had better get out now," he gasped, still holding the
horse by the bridle.

The girl, who was about fifteen and very pretty, obeyed.

"Oh, Jack," she cried, as she got on to the ground, "I never was so
scared in my life, and you have saved me. If Prince had gone down that
awful hill I'd have been killed sure."

"I guess it's more than likely, Evelyn, but how did it happen?"

"Why, just before I got to that turn in the road, where you were,
Prince shied at a piece of paper that blew across the road, and I
yanked on the reins. One of them broke and, of course, after that I
had no control of him, and I didn't know what to do. I set out to
jump, but he was going so fast that I didn't dare to."

By this time, Bob had ridden up, having located the trouble with his
wheel, which was only a wire that had slipped from a connection.

"You got him, did you, Jack, old fellow? I knew you'd do it if any one
could," he shouted, as he dismounted.

"Indeed he did," said Evelyn, "and it was the bravest thing I ever
saw. Why, he stood right up in the saddle and jumped! I never saw
anything like it."

They found that a buckle where the rein was fastened to the bit had
given way, and by means of some stout cord, which Bob had in his
pocket, it was soon temporarily repaired.

Evelyn Nason was a friend of the Goldens, and the two families were
very intimate. Jack had long been her particular hero, and now, more
than ever; it was natural that she should think there was none like
him.

"You'll have to drive me back, Jack," she now declared, "I'm so
nervous I'd never dare to drive back alone."

"All right, wait till I turn him around."

The horse, which now seemed quiet enough, was soon turned, and Evelyn
and Jack got in the carriage. Bob mounted his wheel, and holding
Jack's by one hand, started off ahead.

Mr. Nason was on the porch waiting for them. He had seen Bob riding
home with Jack's wheel, and naturally had asked him where his brother
was, and Bob told him what had happened.

As her father helped Evelyn out of the carriage, tears came into his
eyes as he kissed her, saying:

"Bob told me all about it, dear."

"Oh, papa, Jack saved my life. Wasn't he splendid?"

"My dear boy," cried Mr. Nason, as he grasped Jack's head, "you saved
my little girl and I shall never forget it. It was a very brave act."

CHAPTER XVIII.

BOB AND JACK GO ON A HUNT.

"Say, Jack, I've got an idea," said Bob that night after they were in
bed.

"All right, fire ahead, I'm listening. You do say something sensible
once in a while and I'm willing to take a chance."

"Well, I believe we could find that house where I was shut up."

"Think so?" asked Jack, full of interest now.

"Of course I'm not sure, but I recognized a house not more than seven
or eight miles from it, and if we go there on the wheels, we could
search the country pretty well in a short time. Let's try it tomorrow.
What do you say?"

"I say yes, that is, if father will let us, and what's more, we'll
find it, too, if they haven't lugged it off. We have to be mighty
careful though, for those fellows may be in hiding there."

At the breakfast table, the next morning, Bob announced their plan,
but Mr. Golden shook his head.

"I'm afraid you'll get into trouble," he declared.

"But," argued Jack, "we ought to do something toward finding those
fellows and, if we can locate the house, we can have it searched by
officers and have them nabbed if they are there."

Mr. Golden finally consented, but made them promise that they would be
very careful and not run any risks. Getting the cook to put them up a
good lunch, they were soon ready to start.

"That house," explained Bob, as they rode along side by side, "can't
be many miles this side of Oakland. We'll go to Waterville first and
then cross over to Oakland, then we'll take the road to Norridgewock
and look for that woods road. I suppose we might go by the way of
Norridgewock. It would be shorter, but I guess the roads are better
the other way."

The road to Skowhegan was rough and mostly down hill, and they did not
dare to run very fast, but once outside the latter town, on the road
to Waterville, they let the machines out and reached the city in
forty-five minutes from the time they left home. As they rode through
the city, people stared in amazement at them as they failed to hear
the customary chug-chug of the engine.

They made no stop and were soon in Oakland, a little village about
three miles to the west of Waterville. Here they stopped at a drug
store for a glass of soda water, as the ride had made them thirsty.
When they came out, they found that several people had collected and
were examining the wheels.

"Say, bub, what kind of an engine you got here?" asked one man.

Now neither of the boys liked being called "bub," but they had been
taught to be polite, and Jack explained that it was an electric motor.

"Well--well, I want to know! How do you run it?"

"Oh, that's a secret," laughed Bob, as they got into the saddles and
rode off.

In about fifteen minutes they reached the house which Bob had
recognized, and turning to his brother, he said:

"Now, Jack, here's where our search begins. It can't be very far from
here and as it's only ten o'clock now, we've got several hours to
hunt."

"Wouldn't it be a good plan to inquire at the house and see if they
know anything about the place?"

"Not a bad idea," agreed Bob, getting off his wheel and running it
into the yard. Telling Jack, who had followed him, to hold the cycles
he knocked on the door. A slovenly looking woman answered the knock,
and when he explained their errand, she gave a sudden start and said
rather gruffly:

"No, I don't know of no such place," and shut the door in his face.

"I'll just bet my old hat that she does, all the same," declared Bob,
as he rejoined his brother, then as the latter agreed with him, he
added:

"I guess we better not make any more inquiries round here; some of
these people may be in league with those fellows."

Mounting, they proceeded and had gone only about a mile, when they
came to where the road forked.

"Any idea which is the right road?" asked Jack, as he stopped his
wheel and dismounted.

"Not an idea. Guess we'll flip a penny. Heads to the right, tails to
the left, here goes."

Heads it was, so they started off to the right. It was a fairly smooth
road, so they made pretty good speed for about three miles, when Bob
said:

"Now we'd better slow up a little and begin to look carefully. If
we're on the right track that road can't be a great ways from here,
and it may be nearer than I think."

"Do you know which side of the road it is?"

"Yes, it's to our right. Now let's ride on slowly and keep our eyes
peeled."

Much of the way was through thick woods, and as they rode slowly
along, they closely scanned the woods to their right, watching for a
woods road. They had gone on in this way for several miles, when
suddenly, they came out of a thick piece of woods. So far, they had
seen nothing that in anyway resembled what they were after, but, about
a mile farther on, Jack spied a rough road leading through a field to
the right.

"Suppose that's it?" he asked, bringing his wheel to a stop.

"No, that can't be it, because I'm sure that it was in the woods, for
I remember hearing the branches hit the top of the car all the way
along till we got out where we turned into the main road, and another
thing, I remember just before we turned, the car giving a terrific
lurch as though we had crossed a good-sized gully beside the road, and
you see, there's no such place here. No, this is not the road and we
might as well go on."

They rode on for several miles, part of the time passing through
woods, when they went slowly, and again through the open, where they
speeded up. Finally, about eleven-thirty, Bob stopped his wheel and
said:

"I guess we've taken the wrong road and might as well go back and try
the other one."

To this Jack agreed, and by the time they reached the forks of the
road, it was noon, and as they saw a small spring near the roadside,
they decided to eat their lunch before going on. They had just
finished, when they saw a farmer, followed by a huge mastiff, coming
toward them.

"Gee, Bob, just look at the size of that dog, will you?"

"He sure is some dog all right," replied Bob. "I wouldn't want to meet
him when he wasn't feeling in a good humor."

By this time the man was within speaking distance.

"Say, young fellers, what yer want round here?" he asked in a harsh
tone, while his manner was most offensive.

"Why," asked Bob, pleasantly, "do you own this road?"

"Now don't you get gay with me, young feller."

"No one's getting gay; you asked me a question and I asked you one.
Now, as you asked yours first, I'll answer it and then you can do as
you please about answering mine, but I think we have a right here in
the public road without being growled at. Now then, we are taking a
ride on our wheels seeing the country."

The farmer looked rather uneasy while Bob was talking.

"Huh, mebby so, but yer the fellers what stopped at my house down the
road here a bit, 'bout two hours ago, and was asking the old woman
something about a house what was hid in the woods, hain't yer?"

"Yes, we did stop and make an inquiry," replied Bob. "Anything wrong
about that?"

"Mebby not, only they hain't any sech place round here and yer needn't
go to hunting for any."

"Well," asked Jack, laughing slightly, "if there's no such place
where's the harm in our looking for it?"

The farmer perceived that he had made a slip, and grumbling something
about fool kids poking their noses round where they had no business,
he started off up the road to the right, the dog following close
behind.

"Well, well, the plot thickens, as the hero says in the play. Jack,
that man knows something about that place, and what's more, he don't
want us to know anything about it."

CHAPTER XIX.

THEY FIND THE HOUSE BUT LOSE A CAP.

As soon as the farmer disappeared, the boys started off once more,
taking the left-hand road. After riding five or six miles, they
entered a thick woods and about a half a mile farther on they came to
a bridge, leading over a small, shallow stream. This bridge had been
newly repaired as they could see that the plank flooring had been but
little used.

"By jimminy, but I believe we're getting warm now," cried Bob, as he
stopped his wheel on the bridge. "See where the road leads down
through the brook there?"

"Yes," replied Jack leaning over the rail. "They must have crossed
that way while the bridge was being fixed. But what of it?"

"Just this of it. I remember that just a few minutes after we turned
into the main road that night, the machine suddenly stopped and then
turned down a very rough, steep place just like this, and after going
a few feet, came back into the road again, and I'll bet my cap that
this is the place. Funny I didn't think of it before, for this bridge
brought it to my mind. They hadn't taken the blindfold off then, so,
of course, I couldn't see anything, but, this is the place sure as
guns, and that road can't be more than a mile off."

"Well, come on," urged Jack, impatiently, as he mounted his wheel,
"we'll soon find it if you're right."

They rode on slowly, closely watching the right-hand side of the road
and had not gone quite a mile when Jack's keen eyes spied a slight
break in the thick trees.

"Hurrah!" he called, "here's something that looks promising"; and then
as Bob came up, "there's your woods road and there's your gully."

"I believe you're right, now what had we better do?"

"How far do you think the house is from the road?"

"Not more than a third of a mile I should say. Now I don't think we'd
better take the wheels in there, because the road is so rough that if
we should have to make a quick getaway, we could go much faster
without them."

"Then let's hide them in the bushes and hoof it," proposed Jack.

"I kinder hate to leave them, but I guess it's the best way out. Come
on."

They led the motorcycles along the woods road for perhaps a dozen
yards and then turned off into the thick wood to the left, and after
pushing along about two rods, Bob suddenly said:

"There's just the place, right by that birch tree. The bushes in front
there are so thick that no one can see them."

Pushing on they carefully hid them there and then turned back to the
road.

"I don't think we'd better follow the road," advised Bob, "for we
might meet some one. Let's go parallel to it, but through the woods a
little to the left." This they did and had gone about a quarter of a
mile when Jack whispered:

"Say Bob, do you know we left the caps on the wheels?"

"Gracious, that's so; think we'd better go back and get them?"

"Oh, I guess they'll be all right; we must be most there now. Let's
risk it."

So they pushed on, and had gone but a little farther, when Bob,
peering through the trees, saw an opening in the woods, and a moment
later a low two-story log house, standing on the farther edge, was
visible. Jack was a few feet behind and, placing his finger on his
lips, Bob motioned him to come on.

"That the place, sure as guns," he whispered, "Right out in front
here is where I had that fight with Reed."

"Guess you're right, but I don't see any signs of life there, do you?"

"No, but we'll camp down here a while and watch."

Bob had hardly spoken, when they heard a low growl a little to their
left.

"Goodness, there's a dog," whispered Jack, and the next moment a huge
mastiff, similar to the one they had seen with the farmer, sprang
toward them.

"Quick, Bob, your pistol," gasped Jack.

The boys always carried water pistols, loaded with strong ammonia
water, when they went off on their motorcycles, and now they were to
stand them in good stead. As Jack spoke, he jumped back, reaching for
his pistol, which he carried in his back pocket, but before he could
get it out the dog was upon him. Quickly thrusting forward his left
arm, the dog caught him by the elbow, but the stout canvas, of which
their jackets were made, prevented the sharp teeth from going through.
By this time, Bob had his pistol out, and stepping forward, he shot
the contents fairly into the face of the enraged beast. He let go his
hold and with a loud yelp of pain, sprang backward, and began wildly
clawing the dirt and leaves.

"Did he bite you, Jack?" asked Bob anxiously.

"Nope, nary a bite, you were too quick for him. But I think we'd
better hike out of here. If there's anybody in that house, they must
have heard that howl, and will likely investigate."

"That's right, you know we promised mother not to run any risks; come
on."

Hastily they began to retrace their steps, but as there were no signs
of pursuit, they soon slowed up a little.

"Don't believe there was a soul there," panted Jack, "but we found the
house and that's one good job done anyhow, and I guess we'd better be
content with that for today, but I would have liked to take a peep in
that house."

By this time, they were in sight of the tree where they had left the
wheels, but, when they hurried forward to drag them out, to their
great consternation, no wheels were there.

"Jerusalem!" gasped Bob, "they're gone!"

"Well, what do you know about that?" echoed Jack. "If this isn't a
pretty kettle of fish! Are you sure this was the place?"

"'Course it is. Here's the big birch tree and you can see where the
bushes are trampled down. Oh, if we'd only taken those caps with us!
But come on, we mustn't stand here doing nothing. We've got to get
those wheels back, and let's hurry out to the road and see if we can
see anything of them."

As they hurried along, Bob continued, "If King or Reed spotted us I
guess it's all up, but it may be that some country lout saw us leave
'em there and has swiped 'em. If that's the case, we may get 'em
back."

"We'll do our best anyhow," panted Jack, as they raced along.

They soon reached the main road, and quickly looked both ways, but
nothing of the wheels was to be seen.

For a moment the two boys looked at each other in helpless despair,
then Jack, casting his eyes on the ground, said:

"Here, quick, Bob, see here's their tracks."

Sure enough, in the dusty road the tracks of two wheels, leading in
the direction from which they had come, were plainly visible.

"See, here's our tracks on this side of the road and there's the
others," and a second later he added, "There's only one fellow; see
where he walked between 'em."

"Right you are, Sherlock," shouted Bob, "come on now, on the run."

They set off at a rapid pace, their hopes away up. They ran nearly two
miles, both being in good training, before they saw any one, then as
they rounded a turn, they saw the object of their pursuit, walking
rapidly about two hundred yards ahead of them, between the two wheels.

"Come on now as fast as you can leg it," said Bob, "Let's get as near
him as we can before he sees us."

They were within two hundred feet of the thief, when he turned and saw
them.

"Hey, you, drop those wheels!" shouted Jack.

The man hesitated a minute and then dropped the wheels on the road
and, springing to one side, started off across a field at the top of
his speed. In another minute they had reached the wheels, and with a
cry of joy, Jack grabbed his up saying:

"Guess we're in luck again." But the next moment his spirits were
dashed, when Bob suddenly cried:

"Look, Jack, he's taken one of my caps." Then, before Jack could
speak, he said: "You look out for this wheel, I'm going after that
chap."

The man by this time was some distance away and running as fast as he
could go, but Bob remembered that a little farther along a road
branched off to the left, and hoping to cut him off, he jumped on
Jack's wheel and fairly flew down the road in a cloud of dust. Coming
to the branch road he turned and had ridden but a short distance when
he saw the man climbing a fence, beside the road, just a little ahead.
So quietly did the wheel run that Bob was nearly upon him before he
was aware of his presence. He was a tall fellow, about twenty years
old, dressed in overalls. Seeing that Bob was alone, he made no
further attempt to escape, but stood in the middle of the road
panting, as Bob came up.

Stopping the wheel and jumping off, he demanded:

"See here, what do you mean by taking our wheels?"

"Huh, don't yer wish yer knew? What yer going ter do about it anyhow?"
he asked with a sneer.

"Well," replied Bob slowly, "you've taken a cap off one of the
machines and if you give it to me at once, there'll be no trouble, but
if you don't, why I'll just naturally have to take it away from you,
sonny."

The tall youth laughed loudly, then stepping closer to Bob, shook his
fist in his face, saying:

"I'm not saying I got the cap, but, if you think I have, mebby you'd
better pitch in right now 'fore you forgit it."

Bob knew that the country youth was much stronger than he, as he was
all of thirty pounds heavier, but he had taken several lessons in
wrestling and boxing, and also was familiar with a number of the holds
of the Japanese which had been taught him by a Jap friend. He
therefore felt confident of his ability to handle the country boy,
unless he had a similar training, which he doubted.

"Won't give it to me then?" asked Bob.

"Give yer nothing," the farmer boy started to answer, but before he
had time to finish, Bob had made a rush and grabbed him round the
waist.

"Easy now or you'll be apt to get hurt," he said, as he clasped his
arms round Bob's shoulders.

This was exactly what Bob wanted, and giving a sudden twist to his
body, he exerted all his strength, and threw the fellow fairly over
his head. He came down with a heavy thud and was probably more
surprised than he had ever been before in his life. He was not hurt,
however, and quickly jumping to his feet, he made a wild rush for Bob,
shouting:

"I'll fix you for that, you blamed dude."

He was more careful this time, however, and for two or three minutes
they sparred, neither being able to strike a decisive blow. Bob found
that the fellow was by no means ignorant of the art of boxing, as he
soon got a blow on the nose, which made it bleed freely, but as one of
his opponent's eyes were closed, he felt that he was at least holding
his own.

"Blame yer, I'll get yer now," and the fellow aimed a powerful blow at
Bob's head. If he had landed, his words would undoubtedly have come
true, but Bob jumped nimbly to one side, and the country boy nearly
fell forward from the impetus of his blow. Bob saw his chance, and
quickly jumping forward, he grabbed him round the neck and, getting
his knee in the small of his back, he pulled his head backward, a
trick he had learned from the Jap.

"Gosh amighty, yer breaking my neck," gasped the fellow, now
absolutely helpless, and the more he struggled, the more Bob's grip
hurt.

Bob knew that he had him at his mercy, and freeing one arm, while he
held him tightly with the other, he reached into the pocket of his
overalls, and to his joy, pulled out the stolen cap. But his troubles
were not yet over, for just then he heard the sound of rapidly
approaching steps, and turning, he saw the farmer, who had questioned
them that noon coming towards them on the run and only about one
hundred feet away.

CHAPTER XX.

BOB AND JACK RETURN FROM THE HUNT.

As Bob saw the farmer coming, he had to do some pretty quick thinking,
for it was evident that he was hostile to him for some unknown reason,
and he did not intend to fall into his power if he could help it.
Fortunately, he had left his motorcycle standing in the road, about
ten feet away in the opposite direction from which the farmer was
approaching. Giving the man he was holding a powerful shove, which
sent him sprawling into the ditch by the roadside, he made a quick
rush for the wheel, snapped up the rest and, giving the handle a
slight turn, vaulted into the saddle. But he was just a fraction of a
second too late, for as he started off, the farmer caught him by the
coat tail. He had presence of mind to turn off the power before the
wheel fell over sideways, and springing to the side, stood facing the
farmer.

"Now, you young cub, what does all this mean?"

Bob had a habit of acting on the impulse of the moment, and before the
farmer had time to put up his hands, biff! he was lying on his back
in the middle of the road. By this time the younger man had picked
himself from the gutter, and hastily running forward, bent over the
fallen man, who Bob thought was probably his father.

"I'll have the law on yer for this," he shouted. "I guess yer've
killed him."

"Will, eh?" said Bob, stepping forward.

His fighting blood was now at red heat, and he felt able to fight a
dozen men. "Well, if you feel like taking the law into your hands,
come on, and I'll give you one of the most interesting little picnics
you ever saw. I was only playing before."

But he had evidently had enough, for he made no move toward reopening
hostilities.

"All right then, guess I'll be going. By the way, your father'll come
round all right in a minute. I didn't hit him very hard."

Just then the farmer gave a groan and opened his eyes, saying feebly:

"Laws amighty, did a mule kick me?"

Bob waited no longer, but, picking up his wheel, rode off unmolested.
Just as he reached the corner where the road joined the main highway,
he met Jack trudging along pushing his wheel.

"Well, old man," he shouted, "How'd you make out? Did you get it?"

"Did I get it?" repeated Bob, reaching his hand in his pocket, and
pulling out the cap. "What do you say to this?"

"I say it's great luck."

"You may think so, but quite considerable of a fight had a good deal
to do with it. Look at my nose. But," he laughed, "you ought to see
the other fellow."

By this time he had screwed the cap in place.

"Come on," he said, "let's ride back a little way. Something back here
I want to show you."

"What is it?" asked Jack as they mounted and started back.

"Oh, nothing much, only the road jumped up and hit a fellow on the
back of the head a few minutes ago and I want to see how he's getting
along. There are two of them, but I don't think there's much fight
left in either."

He explained what had happened, as they rode along, and as he
finished, they came in sight of Bob's late antagonists. The older man
was just staggering to his feet, and riding up to within about twenty
feet, Bob said pleasantly:

"Came round all right, did he?"

He turned and let out such a string of oaths as the boys had never
before heard. When he stopped for lack of breath, Bob said:

"If that's the way you feel about it, I guess the less said the
better, and we'll bid you good night. Come on, Jack."

They turned and rode slowly away turning their heads just in time to
see both men shaking their fists at them.

"Well, that chapter is ended," remarked Jack, as they rode off.
"Wonder what the next one will be like. We've certainly had some
excitement since we made those cells."

"That's so," agreed Bob, looking at his watch. "It's after three now,
and we'd better make tracks for home. You know mother will begin to
worry about four o'clock if we're not there."

The road to Skowhegan, five miles down the Kennebec, was very sandy,
and it was impossible for them to make good time. It was four-fifteen
when they crossed the bridge in Skowhegan, but they made up for lost
time on the run up to the lake and reached the cottage just as the
clock was striking four-thirty.

All the folks were on the porch, including their father and Uncle Ben,
who had come up from town in the car, a short time before. The story
of the day's adventures was soon told, and Mr. Golden declared that on
the morrow they would get some officers and visit the log house in the
woods.

"Well, I declare!" said May. "You two boys do beat all when it comes
to getting into scrapes and getting out of them again. It must be lots
of fun. Wish I was a boy."

"That's all right as long as you do get out all right," remarked Jack
a little dryly, "but there wouldn't have been so much fun to some of
the messes we've been in lately if they hadn't turned out as they did.
Please excuse me."

"Come on, Bob," shouted Jack, "that lake looks good to me. We've got
just time for a good swim before supper."

The girls both declared it would be just the thing, and all four
rushed into the house and upstairs, to reappear in an incredibly short
time clad in bathing suits. The girls could both swim nearly as well
as the boys, and soon they were having a splendid time in the clear
water of the lake. They swam and dived, ducking each other whenever
opportunity offered, until Mrs. Golden called that it was time to get
dressed for supper.

The next morning, while they were at breakfast, the telephone rang and
Mr. Golden went into the front room to answer it.

"What's that you say?" they heard him ask, "Mercy, is that so? I'll
come right down, be there in less than a half hour."

When he returned to the dining room, his face was pale and his voice
trembled, as he said:

"Bob, get the car out as soon as possible; the bank has been robbed."

"Robbed!" cried Mrs. Golden, as they all sprang to their feet. "How
much did they get?"

"I don't know, I don't suppose they can tell yet, but Riggs said it
was a large amount."

By this time the boys were at the garage, only a short distance from
the house, and shouting to Sandy, the chauffeur, had the car out by
the time their father and Uncle Ben were ready.

"Can we go?" asked Bob.

"Why, yes, I suppose so, but you'll get there sooner if you take your
wheels. You coming, Ben?"

"Guess I will," replied the latter, and telling the women that they
would 'phone as soon as they could, they were off, the boys leading
the way on the motorcycles.

CHAPTER XXI.

BOB AND JACK THINK THEY HAVE A CLUE.

The First National Bank of Skowhegan, of which Mr. Golden was
president, is situated on Water street. Behind it runs the Kennebec
river through a rock gorge, nearly fifty feet deep. At the time of our
story, the bank building was new, having been built only the year
before. It was thoroughly modern in every respect, and contained what
was supposed to be a burglar-proof vault.

The boys soon distanced the car and in exactly eleven minutes from the
time they started were in front of the bank. They found a crowd of
several hundred people collected in the street, for such a thing as a
bank robbery in Skowhegan had never been known, and there was great
excitement. Hurriedly, they pushed the wheels into a livery stable
nearby, which was run by a friend of theirs, and then pushing their
way through the crowd, managed to reach the sidewalk, in front of the
bank, but here the people were so closely packed, that they were
forced to stop.

"Guess we'll have to wait for dad," panted Jack, after a vigorous
shove had failed to make an opening.

"Gee, but this is worse than a football game," declared Bob, "but
here's dad now," as a big policeman pushed his way through the crowd
shouting:

"Stand back now and let Mr. Golden through."

The mass of people slowly gave way, and Mr. Golden, followed closely
by Bob and Jack, who had grabbed hold of his coat tails as he pushed
his way past, finally succeeded in reaching the steps of the bank. The
door was at once opened by Mr. Riggs, the old cashier, and Mr. Golden
and Uncle Ben, who was with them, entered closely followed by the two
boys.

"Oh, to think that I should live to see this day!" moaned the cashier,
as he closed and locked the door behind them.

"How did they get in?" was Mr. Golden's first question.

The cashier pointed to the door and a glance was sufficient to
disclose the means of entrance. Two doors, separated by a small
vestibule, led into the bank. The outer door was fitted with a heavy
plate glass window, but the inner one was of solid oak. This had been
cut through by means of a bit, and a hole about twenty inches in
diameter sawed out. A similar opening had been made in the glass of
the outer door, a circular piece having been cut out, evidently with a
diamond, and then, cemented back in again so cleverly, that it was not
noticeable except on close inspection.

Going to the vault at the rear of the bank, they found an irregular
hole, nearly sixteen inches in diameter, through the solid steel door.
The edges of this hole had a fused appearance, and Mr. Golden at once
said:

"Undoubtedly the work of experts, and they must have used an
oxy-acteylene blowpipe flame to cut through that door."

Bob had been doing some pretty deep thinking, and now he caught hold
of his father's sleeve and said:

"Of course, I may be a way off, but I believe that those fellows who
kidnapped me are the ones who did this job."

"I think so, too," broke in Jack, "We know that they are criminals and
what were they doing round here if they weren't up to some such job?
You see," he continued, as his father was about to speak, "they didn't
come here after those cells, because they didn't know anything about
them till they saw the boat the day of the race. I believe they
intended to rob the bank in the first place and then they saw our boat
and thought that if they could get hold of our secret, it would pay
them better than this job. That's the way I've got it doped out."

"And I believe Jack's right, dad," broke in Bob. "Something I heard
that man Reed say just after they got me in the car that night has
just come to me. I didn't think much of it at the time; it has never
occurred to me till just now."

"What was it?" eagerly asked Mr. Golden.

"Why, we had gone but a little ways when I heard Reed say, in a low
voice. 'How about that other job, Bill?' and King replied angrily,
'Shut up, you fool!' Then as Reed started to say something, he
whispered, 'That can wait awhile; it won't spoil.'"

"I really believe the boys are right," declared Uncle Ben. "There is
little doubt in my mind that when you get those two men you will have
the robbers of this bank."

"I'll tell you what," broke in Bob, "if those two fellows did it, I'll
bet a cent they'll go straight to the place where they took me, that
we found yesterday. You see they think no one knows about it and that
they will be safe there."

"Then we'd better get some officers and get after them as quickly as
possible," declared Uncle Ben.

"I guess we might as well try it," assented Mr. Golden, "seeing it's
the only clue we have. Mr. Riggs, see if Mr. Switzer is out there and
if he is, have him come in, will you?"

The cashier disappeared, but was back almost immediately, followed by
a powerfully built man about forty years old, the chief of police of
Skowhegan.

"Hello, Switzer, glad you were at hand," cried Mr. Golden.

"Just got here," panted the officer, who appeared nearly out of
breath. "I went over to Smithfield fishing early this morning and
didn't know about it till I got there, and then I hustled back as fast
as I could."

It may be well to explain here, that Skowhegan does not have a regular
police force who give all their time to it. Mr. Switzer, besides being
chief, was a butcher, and the rest of the force, consisting of five
men, held different positions in the town.

Mr. Golden quickly pointed out what has been described, and then told
him of Bob's suspicion.

"Just the thing to do," he declared. "George and Fred are outside and
I'll get them and we'll start at once."

"We'll go in my car," said Mr. Golden. "I guess it's as fast as any in
town, and will carry six of us all right, and the boys can go on their
wheels, can't you, Bob?"

"Sure thing," the both replied.

"All right then, that's settled. Now let's get off as soon as
possible. My car is right over there on the corner."

They went out and Mr. Golden and Uncle Ben at once made their way to
the car, while Mr. Switzer searched through the crowd for his
officers. Bob and Jack hurried to where they had left their wheels and
were back at the corner in almost no time, where they were soon joined
by the three officers.

"Now, where to?" asked the chief, as he took his seat by the driver.

"Norridgewock first," answered Bob, as he jumped into his saddle, and
he added, as he turned on the power, "here's where we break all the
speed laws ever made."

"You boys keep within sight of us," shouted Mr. Golden, as they dashed
across the bridge.

In spite of the bad road, they reached Norridgewock in nineteen
minutes. On the way, Mr. Golden told Uncle Ben and the officers that
Riggs had said that nearly one hundred thousand dollars in cash and
negotiable securities had been taken.

They made no stop at Norridgewock, but at once took the road leading
to Oakland. Here the going was much better and in a little less than
half an hour after leaving Norridgewock, they were within a mile of
the woods road, which led to the big house. The boys were about a
quarter of a mile ahead of the car and stopped here to wait for the
rest of the party.

"Are we 'most there?" asked Mr. Golden, as the car came up to them and
stopped.

"Yes, it's only about a mile from here, and I thought we'd better stop
before we got any nearer, and make our plans," explained Bob.

"My idea," said Mr. Switzer, "is to leave the car by the side of the
main road and go the rest of the way on foot. You see," he explained,
"if we took it too close they would hear it and skip, that is,
providing they're there."

All agreed that this was the best plan.

"Now, Bob," asked the chief, "how far from the main road is that
house?"

"I should say a little more than a quarter of a mile."

"And how large is the clearing round it?"

"At the back the trees grow up close to the house, but in front there
is a clearing of perhaps half an acre."

"Then, three of us had better get round to the back of the house,
while the rest approach it from the front. George, you and Bob and Mr.
Golden," indicating Uncle Ben, "can circle round and get behind. The
rest of us will give you plenty of time to get there and then we'll go
up to the house and demand admittance."

To this plan all agreed, and they started again, the boys keeping just
in front of the car. They had gone about a mile, when Bob held up his
hand for them to stop.

"See that big elm just ahead there?" he asked, pointing with his
finger. "Well, the road is about ten feet the other side of that
tree."

But just then something happened which caused a complete change in
their plans.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE CHASE.

Bob and Jack were a few feet ahead of the others, when the former
suddenly stopped.

"Don't you hear that motor, Jack?"

"I do now, and I believe it's a car coming out that woods road."

The rest of the party had now joined the boys, and the sound of the
approaching car was plainly audible.

"That must be them," said Bob in a low voice. "Now what'd we better
do?"

"We'll hide in the bushes on each side of the road," proposed Mr.
Switzer, "and when they come along, we'll jump out and stop 'em. You
all got guns?"

It turned out that only the policemen had revolvers, so the chief, Mr.
Golden and Uncle Ben hid on one side of the woods road, while the
other two policemen and the boys concealed themselves on the other.

"Now," whispered the chief, "don't make a sound till I tell 'em to
stop, then you cover 'em with your guns and if they try to get away,
let 'em have it, but don't shoot to kill if you can help it 'cause we
want to get those fellows alive if we can."

Nothing more was said and in a few minutes the car was near at hand,
as they could tell by the sound, and, peering through the bushes, Bob
spied a large car coming slowly along the road. Two men were on the
front seat.

"I believe that's King driving," whispered Bob, "though he's shaved
off his beard."

At that instant, Chief Switzer sprang out into the middle of the road
in front of the car, closely followed by Mr. Golden and Uncle Ben,
while the other policemen and the boys followed suit from their side.

"Halt, in the name of the law," shouted the chief, flourishing his
revolver.

The car was about ten feet from them as the order was given, and
instead of obeying, the driver suddenly put on high speed and the car
shot toward them. So quickly was it done that they had barely time to
save themselves from being run down by jumping to one side as the car
shot by and turned into the main road heading toward Oakland.

"Gosh, they'll get away sure as thunder," shouted Switzer, as he fired
his revolver after the vanishing car. "Come on, we've got to chase
them."

It took them but an instant to reach the road and, to their delight,
they found that Sandy, seeing the car come out, had brought their
machine up.

"Pile in, quick," shouted the chief, but although they obeyed as
quickly as possible, the fugitives were nearly a half mile ahead when
they started.

The boys rushed to where they had left their wheels, about a hundred
feet away, and by the time they reached them and mounted they were
quite a distance in the rear.

"Now, let 'em out," shouted Jack, as he sprang into the saddle, and
turning on the power, fairly flew down the road closely followed by
Bob, and before they had gone a mile, they were up with their father's
car.

"I'm afraid we're going to lose 'em," they heard the chief say, as
they drew up, one on each side of the car. "We're not gaining an inch.
Getting all the speed you can out of her, Sandy?"

"I've got her wide open," was the reply.

Bob knew that there was a long, steep hill to ascend a little farther
on and hoped that they would gain on them there, as his father's car
was a splendid hill climber and he had a few weeks before taken that
same hill on high gear. A moment later, as they swung round a curve,
the hill was at hand, and Bob shouted to Sandy telling him not to
shift.

They could see the robber's car about half way up the hill, and going
slowly, evidently on low gear. Sandy hit the foot of the hill at a
terrific pace and, as the car went up on high gear, they could see
that they were gaining rapidly. But the robbers had too great a start
and reached the top several hundred yards ahead. The road was now
slightly down hill for a mile or more, and they could see that, under
the reckless driving of the robber, whose car must have been making
nearly seventy miles an hour, they were rapidly losing ground, for Mr.
Golden had told Sandy not to go faster than he considered safe.

"I want to catch them as badly as any one, but I'm not going to risk
killing all of us to do it," he declared.

"He'll wreck his car and break their necks, sure as fate, if he don't
slow up," thought Bob.

But the robbers reached the foot of the hill in safety and had gained
all the ground they had lost in climbing the hill. For a number of
miles now, the road was fairly level and the race continued without
much change in their relative distance.

The two boys were now riding a little behind the car, and suddenly
Jack turned to Bob, saying:

"I say, Bob, we're never going to catch 'em at this rate."

"Don't look like it. They've sure got some speedy car, and of course
they're reckless about driving."

Just then they reached the outskirts of Oakland, and, as they had to
stop to inquire which way the robbers had gone, they lost still more
ground. Quickly learning, however, that they had taken a road which
would probably lead them, by a round-about way to Portland, they told
their informant to tell the police to telephone to the latter city to
be on the watch for them, and again took up in the chase.

As they started off, Bob said to Jack:

"Say, Jack, we could catch 'em easily on these wheels."

"Sure we could, we've been running only about half speed, but what
good would it do? We couldn't stop 'em, could we?"

"Perhaps not, but my idea is this. Let's get a couple of revolvers
from the policemen and ride up behind them and see if we can't put a
hole in one of their tires."

"Good," shouted Jack, "Come on, let's go get em."

Putting on more power, as they had lagged behind a little, while they
were talking, they quickly overtook the car.

"Hey, there," shouted Jack, as they rode up along side, "Give us a
couple of your revolvers and we'll try to shoot a hole in their tire."

"Think you can do it?" asked the chief, leaning out of the car.

"Don't know, but we can try it. You'll never catch 'em at this rate
and it's the only chance I see."

"All right, here you are," answered the chief, leaning out and handing
each of the boys a revolver. "Go get 'em. But you look sharp, now.
Those fellows are probably armed and won't hesitate to shoot if they
are cornered."

"Yes, boys," joined in Mr. Golden, "don't you get too close to them."

"We'll be careful," replied Bob. "Come on, Jack, now let her out and
we'll show them some real speed," and as they turned on the power,
they rapidly left the car behind.

But they had lost more ground than they thought, and they rode for
fully six miles before catching sight of the robbers, and had begun to
fear that they had lost them. But, finally they caught sight of the
car about a half mile ahead, and giving the motors a little more
current, they rapidly crept up till they were within two hundred yards
of them.

Suddenly, they saw the man who was not driving, turn his head, and as
he saw them, he said something to his companion, and then, turning in
his seat, he drew his revolver.

"He is going to shoot," shouted Jack, and the next instant a shot rang
out followed by several others. But, the swaying car made accurate
shooting impossible, and he emptied the chamber without doing any
harm, although Bob heard one bullet whiz past his head.

"He couldn't hit a barn at the rate he's going," shouted Jack. "Come
on, let's get a little nearer and then we'll try our hand at it."

They waited till they were within about one hundred and fifty feet and
then Bob fired, followed a moment later by Jack. They were both good
shots with the revolver, but, under the condition, they knew that it
would be more good luck than anything else if they succeeded in
hitting a tire. By this time, the man they supposed to be Reed,
although he now wore a mustache, had his gun loaded again and began
firing, but, fortunately, with no effect.

Jack had but one shot left when a ball from Reed's revolver passed
through his hat.

"Gee, that's getting a little too close for comfort," he muttered.

Taking careful aim, he slowly pressed the trigger and this time a loud
report followed the bark of the revolver.

"Got 'em," he shouted as both turned off the power and pressed on the
brakes.

He had indeed got 'em more thoroughly than he supposed, for as the air
left one of the rear tires, they saw the car suddenly swerve to the
right, and before the driver could regain control, it had turned
turtle into the ditch by the road side.

"Gracious, I guess that ends them," cried Bob, as they brought their
wheels to a standstill not more than seventy feet from the overturned
car.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE ROUND UP.

The boys, thinking that the robbers might still be able to shoot, went
back a little way until they saw the other car coming.

"Well, you got them, sure enough," declared Mr. Switzer, as the car
drew up and came to a stop, "but I guess, by the looks, they're both
dead. We'd better have our guns ready though, for they may be able to
shoot," he added turning to his men.

Their fears were groundless, however, for on approaching the
overturned car, they found that both men were unconscious, although
they were alive. Reed, who had lost the false mustache he had been
wearing had been thrown from the car and, having struck his head on a
rock, was lying a few feet away, stunned, while King was pinned under
the car, and groaning heavily. It was necessary to get the jack from
the other car and raise the machine before they could drag him out. He
slowly opened his eyes and groaned as they bore him to the car.

It took some time to bring Reed around, but finally he began to show
signs of life and soon sat up and looked around in a dazed manner. As
his eyes rested for an instant on Jack, a shudder ran through him and
he muttered something about not doing a very good job and sank back
with a moan.

They found the stolen money and securities in a box under the car,
which was badly wrecked, and Mr. Golden took it in charge.

"Now," said Mr. Switzer, speaking to Mr. Golden, "if you are willing,
George and I'll take these fellows back to Skowhegan in your car.
There's a house just around that turn where a man by the name of Berry
lives, and he'll probably hitch up and take the rest of you back to
Oakland and you can catch the train there for home."

"All right," replied Mr. Golden, "I guess that will be the best plan,
and the boys can go along with you on their wheels."

So it was arranged, and the two injured robbers were made as
comfortable as possible on the back seat of the car with Mr. Switzer,
after he had slipped handcuffs on them. They said nothing except that
King said he believed his left leg was broken, and it was paining him
a good deal.

"You're both mighty lucky that your necks aren't broken," declared
Switzer.

"I don't know as it's so very lucky for us, either," said Reed
moodily.

The other officer took his seat in front with Sandy, and as they
started off, Mr. Switzer shouted:

"I'll send some one out to tow their machine in."

The return trip was made without incident, the boys following the car.
The prisoners were not inclined to talk and refused to answer any
questions. On reaching Skowhegan, they were taken to the jail and a
doctor summoned, who found that King's left leg was broken below the
knee. Beyond a good sized lump on the back of his head and a severe
shaking up, Reed was not injured.

The authorities at Boston were notified, and it turned out that Reed
was the long-wanted Jim the Penman, and, as Captain Long had
suspected, King proved to be the man known as Oily Joe. They were both
sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in the state prison of
Massachusetts.

As the boys, accompanied by Mr. Switzer, left the jail, after hearing
the doctor's report regarding the condition of the robbers, Bob told
him of his suspicions regarding the farmer and his son, with whom they
had the trouble the day before.

"That must be looked into," declared Mr. Switzer. "It certainly looks
as though they were mixed up in it somehow. Tell you what I think we'd
better do. It's only ten-thirty now; suppose we take your father's
car and drive right back there and see what we can find out about it."

To this the boys readily agreed, and taking the other policeman with
them they started, waiting only long enough for Bob to call up his
mother and tell her the news.

They reached the place in a little over an hour, and as they drove
into the yard, the farmer was sitting on the back door step. As soon
as he saw them, he rose and started to go into the house, but Mr.
Switzer was too quick for him, and drawing his revolver, he pointed it
at the man ordering him to stop. He wisely obeyed and Switzer told him
to come to the car.

"Is this the man?" he asked, turning to Bob.

"Yes, he's the man all right."

The chief then explained the situation to him and told him that he had
better make a clean breast of it. The man was very much frightened and
his voice trembled as he spoke, telling them that he would tell them
all he knew.

According to the man's account, the house in the woods belonged to
him. It had been built by a man from New York, three years ago, who
intended to use it as a summer home, but his wife had died before it
was completely furnished, and he had bought it at a very low price.
King and Reed had driven into his yard one afternoon, a week or so
ago, in an automobile. The smaller of the two, Reed, had said that he
was a wealthy business man from Boston and that King was his servant.
He, Reed, had suffered from a nervous breakdown, and his doctor had
ordered him to go way somewhere, with his man, where he could be
perfectly quiet and where no one would bother him, and they were
looking for a place which they could rent.

He had at once thought of the log house in the woods and had offered
to show it to them. On seeing it, Reed had declared it to be just the
thing and had paid him a month's rent in advance. He had thought that
Reed was pretty healthy looking for a sick man, but considered it none
of his business so long as he got his money. He had seen but little of
them, but did know that they were away most of the time. Yes, he
thought it strange, seeing that he wanted to be perfectly quiet, but
here again, it was none of his affair and he had not bothered his head
about it.

Bob asked him why he had been so hostile toward Jack and him, and why
his son had stolen their wheels, and why he had kept the cap, on
abandoning them. He said, in explanation, that Reed had called at the
house one day, and during their conversation had told him that two
boys had stolen an invention from him. Some kind of a storage battery,
the secret of which was in some metal caps. He had said that he was
very anxious to get back at least one of the caps as he had lost the
formula for making them and had been unable to get the right
proportion of metals. Asked why he didn't have the boys arrested, he
had replied that, unfortunately, he had no proof that they had stolen
it, but that he would give one thousand dollars to get one of the
caps. So, it happened that when he had seen the boys the day before,
and had noticed the electric motors on their wheels, he had at once
jumped to the conclusion that they were the boys Reed had told him
about. So, seeing a good chance, as he thought, to make one thousand
dollars honestly and without much trouble, he and his son, who had
been at work in a field nearby, had followed them, and he guessed they
knew the rest.

The farmer's story sounded plausible enough as he told it, and, as
they had no evidence to the contrary, Mr. Switzer said he guessed
probably he was all right, but cautioned him to be more careful in the
future or he might get into trouble, and telling him that he might be
called as a witness, proposed that they start back.

"I don't know I'm sure," he said to the boys, on the way back,
"whether that fellow was telling the truth or not, but as long as we
caught the robbers, I don't see that we'd gain anything by arresting
him and I guess we'd have a pretty hard time proving anything against
him."

"Well, I got one good crack at him anyhow," chuckled Bob, "and I guess
that son of his will think twice the next time, before he tackles a
dude."

As the car drew up in front of the bank, they found that their father
and the others had returned and getting their wheels, the boys lost no
time in starting for the cottage, as they felt, according to Jack,
hollow clear to the toes. Mrs. Golden said that he and Uncle Ben had
eaten lunch and would be up later as he had some business to attend to
at the bank.

As they rode through the town, they had to stop a dozen times and
receive congratulations from their friends, and it was nearly two
o'clock when they reached the cottage. However, they found a good
lunch awaiting them, as their father had 'phoned that they were
coming. While eating, they gave their mother, their aunt and the two
girls an account of the events of the forenoon.

"I am very glad," declared Mrs. Golden, "that they are caught, as I
would never have felt easy with them at large."

Mr. Golden and Uncle Ben came up in time for supper and the evening
was spent in talking over the events of the last few days.

The next night, when Mr. Golden came up from Skowhegan, he told the
boys that he had a surprise for them.

"What is it?" both asked eagerly.

"I received a telegram this afternoon from Captain Long, saying that a
check for ten thousand dollars had been sent to you, which is the
reward offered for the capture of Jim the Penman and Oily Joe."

The boys were surprised, and of course delighted, for they had not
thought of a reward, although they now remembered that Captain Long
had told them that one had been offered.

"But, father, don't you think that Mr. Switzer and the other policemen
ought to have part of it?" asked Bob.

"No," replied his father, "I hardly think so. They only did their duty
in arresting them, while you were really the ones who caught them.
What do you say, Ben?"

Uncle Ben agreed with their father, in thinking that the reward
belonged to them alone, but Jack proposed that they would feel better
about it if they gave them a part, and Mr. Golden smilingly told them
to do as they thought best. So, after talking it over, they decided to
give them one thousand dollars each. Mr. Switzer and the other two men
were much pleased when the boys gave them the money, and all decided
that they had not expected any part of it as they considered that it
belonged to the boys.

CHAPTER XXIV.

CONCLUSION.

"Say, Bob, what'll we do with this money?"

The check had been received on the day following Mr. Golden's
announcement, and as soon as the boys got into bed that night they
began to talk about it.

"Well, I'll tell you my idea. You remember what I said before I was
kidnapped, about that prize of fifty thousand dollars for flying
across the Atlantic, don't you? Well, tomorrow, let's ask dad about it
and if he says we may try it, we can use it to buy an airplane next
summer. What do you say?"

"What do I say? I say that, for a youth of your tender years, you have
a mighty level head, and that last remark of yours is certainly a
corker."

The next morning, at breakfast, they broached the subject to their
father.

"Well, I never!" declared Uncle Ben, "What in the name of common sense
will you boys think of next? But of course, you are only fooling."

"Indeed we're not," declared Bob, emphatically.

"But sober earnest now, Bob, do you think the scheme is practical?"
asked his father.

"I don't see why not. Lots of aviators can stay in the air as long as
their gasoline will hold out and the only reason they can't fly
farther is because they can't carry enough fuel. Now we could carry
enough of those cylinders to take an airship round the world."

"Well, well," said their father, as he rose from the table, "there's
lots of time to think of that between now and next summer. I won't say
yes, and I won't say no at present, but we'll see."

It was now the beginning of the last week in August and the boys spent
the next few days delightfully, sailing in the Sprite, fishing,
swimming and playing tennis with the girls. To Jack's secret delight
Mrs. Golden invited Evelyn Nason to spend a week with them, and as she
was a lively girl, they were a very jolly party, and Mike declared
that they made more noise than a barrel of monkeys.

September came around too soon, and Uncle Ben announced that the next
day he and Aunt Lucy must start for home. All were very sorry to have
them go, for they all loved them dearly.

"Don't forget, boys, that you are to spend a week with us next
Christmas," was the last thing Aunt Lucy said, as they started off in
their big car.

Two days later, May and Evelyn went home and the Roost seemed quite
deserted, and the Goldens began to think about leaving the lake for
the summer.

It was Wednesday evening, and they were going to close the cottage the
following Friday. They were all sitting around the open fire in the
living room, for the night was chilly.

"Boys," said Mr. Golden, throwing down the paper he had been reading,
"how would you like to be tin soldiers?"

"Tin soldiers? What in the world do you mean?" asked Jack, as they all
laughed.

"Well, I'll tell you. This afternoon a friend from Philadelphia was in
the bank and he was telling me about a military college near there,
where his boy went last year, and he praised it so highly, that I
thought it might be a good place for you. I believe in military
training," he continued, "as it teaches, besides other things,
alertness and efficiency. I have very much regretted that I did not
have the advantage of such training, and I would like my boys to have
it. What do you say?"

The boys thought for a moment and looked at each other. Finally Bob
said:

"I think it would be bully; how about you, Jack?"

"Same here. Do they teach cavalry there, dad?"

"Yes, they give courses in infantry, cavalry and artillery."

"That'll be great," declared both boys.

"Then you think you would like to go, do you?"

"Yes, sir, I think it will be just the place for us," answered Bob and
Jack said the same.

"All right then, we'll consider it settled and I'll write to the
president the first thing in the morning as the term opens the
seventeenth."

The boys talked about it for a long time that night, after they were
in bed, and the more they thought about it, the more anxious they were
to go.

Friday morning came, and after a final sail in the Sprite, she was
pulled into the boathouse and made snug for the winter. Needless to
say, the cells were taken to Skowhegan for safe keeping. By noon, the
Roost was ready to be closed, and after lunch, they left for their
town home, the boys on their motorcycles and the rest of the family in
the car.

"This has been a splendid summer," declared Bob, as they were about to
start, "in spite of all the trouble we've had, and I've had more
excitement than I expected to have all my life."

"That's so," agreed Jack and then added soberly, "we certainly ought
to be very thankful that everything turned out so well."

One day, about a week after they came down from the lake, Mr. Golden
said, at the supper table:

"Mr. Jenkins was in the bank today and said that Fred and Will were
coming home tomorrow, and that he had decided to send them to the same
college where you're going."

Instantly the faces of the two boys fell.

"He said," continued their father, "that he wished you two were more
intimate with them."

"I don't," said Jack. "They're too mean and selfish and then you can't
trust them. I'm mighty sorry they're going there."

"Oh, well," declared Bob, "I guess there'll be room enough for them
and us, too."

It was Thursday and they were to leave the following Monday, and so we
will leave them, busy and happy in their last minute preparations for
their new life in college.

And so we shall take leave of them for a short time. Their subsequent
adventures will be found in a succeeding volume entitled "THE GOLDEN
BOYS AT THE FORTRESS."

THE END.

     The Boy Allies
     With the Navy

     (Registered in the United States Patent Office)

    By ENSIGN ROBERT L. DRAKE

Handsome Cloth Binding.

Frank Chadwick and Jack Templeton, young American lads, meet each
other in an unusual way soon after the declaration of war.
Circumstances place them on board the British cruiser "The Sylph" and
from there on, they share adventures with the sailors of the Allies.
Ensign Robert L. Drake, the author, is an experienced naval officer,
and he describes admirably the many exciting adventures of the two
boys.

     THE BOY ALLIES ON THE NORTH SEA PATROL; or, Striking the
     First Blow at the German Fleet.

     THE BOY ALLIES UNDER TWO FLAGS; or, Sweeping the Enemy
     from the Seas.

     THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE FLYING SQUADRON; or, The Naval
     Raiders of the Great War.

     THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE TERROR OF THE SEA; or, The Last
     Shot of Submarine D-16.

     THE BOY ALLIES UNDER THE SEA; or, The Vanishing Submarine.

     THE BOY ALLIES IN THE BALTIC; or, Through Fields of Ice to
     Aid the Czar.

     THE BOY ALLIES AT JUTLAND; or, The Greatest Naval Battle
     of History.

     THE BOY ALLIES WITH UNCLE SAM'S CRUISERS; or, Convoying
     the American Army Across the Atlantic.

     THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE SUBMARINE D-32; or, The Fall of
     the Russian Empire.

     THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE VICTORIOUS FLEETS; or, The Fall of
     the German Navy.

For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by
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     The Boy Allies With
     the Army

     (Registered in the United States Patent Office)

     By CLAIR W. HAYES

Handsome Cloth Binding.

In this series we follow the fortunes of two American lads unable to
leave Europe after war is declared. They meet the soldiers of the
Allies, and decide to cast their lot with them. Their experiences and
escapes are many, and furnish plenty of the good, healthy action that
every boy loves.

     THE BOY ALLIES AT LIEGE; or, Through Lines of Steel.

     THE BOY ALLIES ON THE FIRING LINE; or, Twelve Days Battle
     Along the Marne.

     THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE COSSACKS; or, A Wild Dash Over the
     Carpathians.

     THE BOY ALLIES IN THE TRENCHES; or, Midst Shot and Shell
     Along the Aisne.

     THE BOY ALLIES IN GREAT PERIL; or, With the Italian Army
     in the Alps.

     THE BOY ALLIES IN THE BALKAN CAMPAIGN; or, The Struggle to
     Save a Nation.

     THE BOY ALLIES ON THE SOMME; or, Courage and Bravery
     Rewarded.

     THE BOY ALLIES AT VERDUN; or, Saving France from the
     Enemy.

     THE BOY ALLIES UNDER THE STARS AND STRIPES; or, Leading
     the American Troops to the Firing Line.

     THE BOY ALLIES WITH HAIG IN FLANDERS; or, The Fighting
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     THE BOY ALLIES WITH PERSHING IN FRANCE; or, Over the Top
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     THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE GREAT ADVANCE; or, Driving the
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     the Great World War.

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     The Boy Scouts Series

     By HERBERT CARTER

     THE BOY SCOUTS' FIRST CAMP FIRE; or, Scouting with the
     Silver Fox Patrol.

     THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE; or, Marooned Among the
     Moonshiners.

     THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL; or, Scouting through the Big
     Game Country.

     THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAINE WOODS; or, The New Test for
     the Silver Fox Patrol.

     THE BOY SCOUTS THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER; or, The Search for
     the Lost Tenderfoot.

     THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The Secret of the
     Hidden Silver Mine.

     THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND; or, Marooned Among the
     Game Fish Poachers.

     THE BOY SCOUTS DOWN IN DIXIE; or, The Strange Secret of
     Alligator Swamp.

     THE BOY SCOUTS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA. A story of
     Burgoyne's defeat in 1777.

     THE BOY SCOUTS ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA; or, The Silver Fox
     Patrol Caught in a Flood.

     THE BOY SCOUTS ON WAR TRAILS IN BELGIUM; or, Caught
     Between the Hostile Armies.

     THE BOY SCOUTS AFOOT IN FRANCE; or, With the Red Cross
     Corps at the Marne.

For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by
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     Our Young Aeroplane Scout Series

     (Registered in the United States Patent Office)

     By HORACE PORTER

Handsome Cloth Binding.

A series of stories of two American boy aviators in the great European
war zone. The fascinating life in mid-air is thrillingly described.
The boys have many exciting adventures, and the narratives of their
numerous escapes make up a series of wonderfully interesting stories.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM; or,
     Saving the Fortunes of the Trouvilles.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN GERMANY.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN RUSSIA; or, Lost on the
     Frozen Steppes.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN TURKEY; or, Bringing the
     Light to Yusef.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ENGLAND; or, Twin Stars in
     the London Sky Patrol.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ITALY; or, Flying with the
     War Eagles of the Alps.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS AT VERDUN; or, Driving Armored
     Meteors Over Flaming Battle Fronts.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN THE BALKANS; or, Wearing the
     Red Badge of Courage.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN THE WAR ZONE; or, Serving
     Uncle Sam In the Cause of the Allies.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS FIGHTING TO THE FINISH; or,
     Striking Hard Over the Sea for the Stars and Stripes.

     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS AT THE MARNE; or, Harrying the
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     OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN AT THE VICTORY; or, Speedy
     High Flyers Smashing the Hindenburg line.

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