LITMIR.BIZ

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that."

      The two students walked to the river and looked up and down the stream. A rowboat and a sailboat were in sight, but that was all.

      "There is Jack Laplow in his sloop," cried Dave, mentioning a riverman they knew. "The wind is blowing up the stream. Maybe he'll take us along."

      They hailed the riverman, who made a living by doing all sorts of jobs on the stream. He did not have much to do just then and readily agreed, for a small amount, to take them up the river and bring them back.

      "We want to find some fellows who are in the Kingsley motor-boat," explained Dave. "Have you seen anything of them?"

      The riverman had not, but said he would help to watch out for the lads. Dave and Roger hopped aboard the sloop, and soon the little craft was standing up the Leming River, with Jack Laplow at the tiller.

      It was a warm, clear day, and had the boys not been distressed in mind, they would have enjoyed the sail immensely. But as it was, they were very sober, so much so in fact that the old riverman at length remarked:

      "What's wrong--somebody hurt, or are ye going to a funeral?"

      "No funeral," answered Dave, with a forced laugh. "But we are in a hurry to find those three fellows."

      "Well, I don't see no motor-boat yet," answered Jack Laplow.

      "One thing is certain: if it went up the river it's got to come down," said Roger.

      "They may get out and send it back," answered our hero.

      "But, Dave, surely you don't think----" But Dave put up his hand for silence and nodded in the direction of the boatman; and the senator's son said no more.

      A mile and a half were covered, and they were just passing one of the many islands in the river, when Jack Laplow gave a shout.

      "There is the motor-boat now!"

      "Boat ahoy!" shouted Dave, and then, as they drew closer, he saw that it was really the Kingsley craft. He was chagrined to see that only a man was on board, a fellow who was running the boat very slowly.

      "Where are those boys who were aboard?" demanded our hero, as the motor-boat came closer.

      "Is this your boat?" asked the man on board, in return.

      "No, but my friends were on that boat. Where are they?"

      "Left the boat at Snog's Point, and hired me to bring her back. I don't know much about motor-boats, so I'm running kind o' slow," explained the man.

      "Snog's Point?" repeated Roger. "Where were they going?"

      "Don't ask me, for I don't know. They was in a tremenjous hurry, I know that. It's all right, ain't it?" went on the man, quickly.

      "Oh, yes, it was all right," answered Dave. And then they allowed the man to go on his way.

      "Want to go up to Snog's Point?" asked the man of the sloop.

      "Yes,--and as quickly as you can get there," replied Dave.

      As the wind was in the right direction, it did not take long. The Point was a rocky cliff with a stretch of sand at its base. Here the boys jumped ashore.

      "Want me to wait for you?" asked the riverman.

      "Wait for half an hour," said Dave. "Then, if we are not back, you can go back;" and so it was arranged.

      In the sand our hero and Roger could plainly see the marks of the motor-boat and many footprints. They followed the footprints to a road leading through a stretch of woods, and then came out on a highway leading to Barrelton.

      "The town is about half a mile from here. Wonder if they went there?" mused Roger.

      "Maybe we can learn something at the nearest farmhouse," suggested Dave.

      They hurried on, and presently reached a farmhouse set close to the road, with a barn on the other side. At a grindstone a tall, thin boy was sharpening a sickle.

      "Yes, I saw them fellers," he drawled, when asked about the runaways. "They was walking to town to beat the cars. I thought they must be in one o' them cross-country races, or something like that."

      "Come on!" cried Dave to his chum. Then he turned back suddenly. "Do you know anything about the trains from Barrelton?"

      "Ain't many trains from there," answered the youth at the grindstone.

      "But do you know what there are?"

      "There's a train north jest about due now."

      "And what is next?"

      "A train south a leetle after four o'clock. An' the freight goes through at seven."

      "Hurry, Roger!" cried Dave.

      "Do you think they'd take a train, Dave?"

      "I don't know--I hope not."

      The two boys set off on a run, taking it easy at first, so as not to get winded. They passed a number of farms and presently came in sight of Barrelton, so called because of the barrel factory located there. From a distance they had heard the whistle of a locomotive, and knew that the north-bound train had stopped at the station and gone on.

      "There is the station!" cried Dave, pointing up the railroad tracks. They continued to run and did not stop until they gained the platform. Here they met the ticket agent.

      "The train just went, didn't it?" asked Dave, and as the agent nodded, he went on: "Did three young fellows like ourselves get on?"

      "If they did, I didn't see 'em," answered the man.

      "Oh!" cried Roger, "maybe they didn't take the train, after all."

      "Let us hope so."

      Somewhat out of breath, the two boys tramped around Barrelton, looking for Phil and the others, and asking about them. But nobody appeared to have seen the runaways, and not a trace of them was to be found anywhere.

      "All we can do is to get something to eat and take the other train for Oakdale," said Roger, after they had satisfied themselves that the runaways were nowhere in that vicinity. The walking around had made him hungry.

      They procured some pie and milk at a little stand near the station, and shortly after four o'clock took the way train for Oakdale and walked to the school. They went directly to the doctor's office. The master of Oak Hall listened patiently to what they had to tell.

      "I am sorry you did not find them," he said, gravely. "It was very foolish of them to run away, very. I trust they will come back of their own accord soon."

      "Will you see Mr. Sparr about the matter?" asked Dave.

      "Yes, Porter. And I wish you and Morr to go with me."

      The interview took place that evening, the boys and the doctor driving down to the hotel after supper. Jason Sparr treated the master of the Hall politely but said very little.

      "When I make my next move I'll have a lawyer," he said. "I know somebody tried to blow up my hotel, and I think it was some of your boys--that Lawrence boy especially. But I ain't going to have 'em arrested until I can prove it."

      "Very well," answered Doctor Clay. "And in the meantime, you had better keep quiet, or you may have a suit for damages on hand."

      On the day following there was something of a sensation. The weekly newspaper issued in a nearby town came out with a thrilling account of the dynamiting of the dining-room of the hotel. In the account appeared the following:

      "There is strong evidence pointing to the fact that

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