The Corner House Girls on a Houseboat Part 27

There was a nervous spluttering from the motor, and the boat shot out into the river, the two men in her crouching down as though they feared being fired at.

"There they are!" cried Ruth, clasping Mr. Howbridge's arm in her excitement. "The same two men!"

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Well, they're the same two we saw down near the ca.n.a.l lock, in the boat," Ruth went on. "I'm sure it's the same boat, and I'm as positive as I ever was that they are the ones who robbed us."

"It is the same boat we saw the other day," agreed the lawyer. "And I think the same men. Whether they are the thieves is, of course, open to question. But I should very much like to question them," he added. "Hold on there!" he called to the men. "I want to see you!"

But the boat did not stop, rather she increased her speed, and it seemed that one of the men laughed. They did not look back.

"I wish there was some way of taking after them!" exclaimed Ruth's guardian. "But, as it is, it's out of the question."

They were on a lonely part of the river. No houses were near and there was no other boat in sight, not even a leaky skiff, though some farmer boy might have one hidden along the sh.o.r.e under the bushes. But a rowing craft would not have been effective against the speedy motor boat, and finding another craft to match the one containing the two rough men was out of the question.

Farther and farther away the men were speeding now. Agnes and the two younger girls, having heard the shouts of Mr. Howbridge, turned back from their flower-gathering trip.

"Is anything the matter?" asked Agnes.

"Oh, no, nothing much. Mr. Howbridge saw two men in that boat," answered Ruth, with a meaning look at her sister. "But they did not stop." And when she had a chance, after Dot and Tess had moved out of hearing distance, Ruth added: "They're the same men, Agnes!"

"You mean the ones who robbed us?"

"I'm pretty sure; yes!"

"Oh dear!" voiced Agnes, and she looked around the now darkening woods.

"I wish we hadn't stopped in such a lonely place," she murmured.

"Nonsense!" laughed Mr. Howbridge. "I shall begin to think you doubt my ability as guardian. My physical, not my mental," he added.

"Oh, no, it isn't that," Agnes made haste to say. "Only--"

"And we have Neale, and Hank, too," broke in Ruth. "While Mrs. MacCall is a tower of strength herself, even if she is getting old."

"Oh, yes, I know," murmured Agnes. "But--well, don't let's talk about it," she finished.

"And I think we'd better be going back. It will soon be quite dark."

"Yes," agreed the lawyer. "We had better go back."

He looked up the river. The boat containing the two rough men was no longer in sight, but finally there drifted down on the night wind the soft put-put of the motor.

"We thought you had deserted us," said Neale when he saw, from the deck of the _Bluebird_, the lawyer and the girls returning.

"We went farther than we intended," answered Ruth.

"How's the motor?" asked the lawyer.

"Hank and I will have it fixed in the morning."

"Where is Hank now?" Agnes wanted to know, and it seemed as though she had begun to rely on the rugged and rough strength of the man who had driven the mules.

"Oh, he went off for a walk, and he said maybe he'd fish a while," Neale said. "He's a bug on fishing."

Then, while Mrs. MacCall took charge of Tess and Dot, giving exclamations of delight at the flowers, even while comparing them with her Highland heather, Agnes and Ruth told Neale what had happened--the swift-departure of the motor boat and its two occupants.

"They were evidently having a dispute when we came along," said Ruth.

"We heard one of them say something about the Klondike."

"The Klondike!" exclaimed Neale, and there was a queer note in his voice.

"Yes, they certainly said that," agreed Agnes. "Oh, I do wish we were away from here." And from the deck of the boat she looked at the wooded sh.o.r.es of the river extending on either side of the moored craft. The Gentory was not very wide at this point, but the other sh.o.r.e was just as lonely and deserted as that where the voyagers had come to rest for the night.

"Don't be so nervous and fussy," said Ruth to Agnes. "Mr. Howbridge won't like it. He will think we don't care for the trip, and--"

"Oh, I like the trip all right," broke in Agnes. "It's just the idea of staying all night in this lonely place."

"We have plenty of protectors," a.s.serted Ruth. "There's Neale and--"

"What's that?" asked the boy, hearing his name spoken.

"Agnes was saying she was timid," went on Ruth, for Mr. Howbridge had gone to the dining-room for a gla.s.s of milk Mrs. MacCall had suggested he take before going to bed. "I tell her with you and Mr. Howbridge and Hank to protect us--"

"Aggie timid! Oh, yes, we'll look after you!" he promised with a laugh.

"At the same time--Oh, well, I guess Hank won't stay late," and he looked at his watch.

"You seem worried," said Agnes to her friend when they were alone for a moment. "Do you think these men--those Klondikers--are likely to make trouble?"

"No, not exactly that," Neale answered. "To tell you the truth I was thinking of Hank. I may as well tell you," he went on. "I didn't see any connection between the two happenings before, but since you mentioned those men there may be."

"What are you driving at?" asked Agnes, in surprise.

"Just this--" answered Neale. "But let's call Ruth." Ruth came and then Neale continued: "Hank suddenly dropped his tools when we were working over the motor and said he was going for a walk. He also mentioned fishing. I didn't think much of it at the time, for he may be odd that way when it comes to a steady job. But now I begin to think he may have gone off to meet those men."

"But he didn't meet them," Ruth said. "We saw them speed away in motor boat alone."

"They may have met Hank later," the boy said.

"But what makes you suspicious of him?" Ruth asked.

"I'll tell you." And Neale related the episode of the gold ring.

"Oh, do you think it could be one of ours that the men took? Do you think Hank is in with them, and wants his share of the 'swag' as one man called it?" questioned Agnes eagerly.

"I don't know, I'm sure," answered Neale. "But he certainly had a ring.

It rolled to the deck and he picked it up quickly enough."

"Say, Ruthie!" exclaimed Agnes impulsively, "now's a good chance while he's away. We could look through the place where he keeps what few things he has--in that curtained off corner by his cot."