Part 31 (1/2)
”Whin the fog's so thick ye c'ud cut it with a knife,” put in Gerald ”Give us a diagram av it”
”Why, the robbery was done by Rae and some of his pals,” explained Jack ”They sent Monkey up between the buildings and he opened theand got in and then opened the doors for the others When they got through all they had to do was to walk out, and Monkey closed and fastened the doors after theot in”
”But how do you know that Rae did it?” asked Rand
”By putting two and two together,” replied Jack ”I knew that the coins you found were like some that had been stolen Monkey Rae and Sam went over the road just before you found the, or they would have been covered up in the dirt, or some one else would have found them”
”'Tis no way impossible,” admitted Donald
”Then some of the tools they used had been taken from Wilson's blacksmith shop, and you know dick said that Monkey and Sam used to come in there almost every day, so that it was quite probable that they took therowing interesting”
”Well, there isn't much more; but I saw, from this circular, that Rae had escaped from prison, so I concluded that the ether and worked it out that it was he who robbed the judge's office”
”What was he after?” asked Pepper
”I don't know exactly,” replied Jack; ”but it was papers of soht,” conceded Donald; ”but you haven't got any proof”
”No,” adiven the officer the tip, and told him about the shack in the woods where Pepper saw Rae They are going to make a raid on it tomorrow, and perhaps they will find some of the stolen property in their possession; then we have the iet one of Monkey's hands and see if they aren't the sa's anither,” commented Gerald
Which proved to be quite true in this case, for when the officers reached the cabin in the woods they found it deserted and dismantled
The occupants had evidently taken alarh the boys were destined to ain under decidedly unpleasant circumstances
CHAPTER XXII
THE RACE
The race had been set for 9 o'clock in thebreeze from the west that had stirred up the water into such a lumpy condition that any kind of tie would be all on the side of the Altons So the race was put off from time to time in the hope that the ould die down so as to equalize the chances, and it was not until late in the afternoon that the coh the as still blowing and the water rough
The course, as agreed upon, was a straight-away three miles over a clear stretch of the river froot there?” asked dick, as Rand pulled a coin fro it up on his sleeve
”That's his hed Jack ”It's the coin he found in the road, and he keeps it for luck”
”Well, I guess it has its work cut out for it, all right,” went on dick ”He will have his hands full--if it is a he--to keep us in the procession Alton has a crew of blacksht to carry,” replied Rand, who
”Not much chance for us,” put in Jack