CHAPTER II

THE SEARCH IS CONTINUED

It is much to be feared that three certain young gentlemen finished their dinner with unbecoming haste in order to join more quickly the fourth young gentleman summoned to the long distance telephone.

“Why, it was dad! Called up clear from Lannington!” announced Phil, coming from the telephone booth, perspiring but pleased. “They all got our letters, just a little while ago, and there must have been a general powwow all about us and the car right away. They fixed it up that dad should call us. And they’re mighty interested. Think we haven’t acted fast enough, and all that. Want us to offer a reward—get busy—travel around—not lose so much time just staying here. And if we can’t get some news by Wednesday, they’ll either come on here or send a detective from Chicago or somewhere.”

“It’ll cost a raft of money,” murmured MacLester.

“But we’ve been too afraid of spending a little,” Billy answered.

“Over four dollars’ worth of telephoning in one morning!” ejaculated Paul, forcibly. He did not like criticism.

“Just the same, it feels good to know there’s somebody back of us. Of course we knew there was, anyway, but to have them get together and then telephone clear here—it’s mighty encouraging,” spoke Phil. “Now we can’t let them think we aren’t capable of getting out of this pickle by ourselves, and we don’t want them to hold a convention here. The answer is, get busy! So what are we going to do?”

“Well, what are we going to do?” This from Paul, as if he would say that everything possible to do had been done.

“Why, there’s one thing that seemed like a good suggestion,” said Phil, “and that is that we look in other places—get on the train, get in touch with the police and the auto clubs and garages in different likely places, personally.”

“It’s reasonable, and the thing to do,” declared Worth with emphasis. “Phil, why can’t you and Dave go to Albany or Rochester this very day? Stop off at Syracuse. Go up to Pittsfield, too? Paul and I can watch and hunt around here and follow up what poor little clues we’ve got.”

“Clues? We have no clues!” spoke MacLester, moodily, “unless Hipp and Earnest are the ones. I’ve come to the conclusion that those fellows lied about seeing a man in a raincoat. Who else saw him? Don’t we know that young Earnest can lie like a beggar? Is Hipp any better?”

“But there’s the raincoat! Saw it ourselves!” Billy argued.

“Oh, that might belong to anybody! Plenty of old raincoats lying around,” persisted David.

“I’m afraid you’re on the wrong track, Mack,” Phil Way urged quietly. Then immediately he added: “We must look up trains at once. Billy’s plan may not be very promising but, goodness, we can’t sit around and wait for the car to come to us!”

So the agreement was made, quite as Worth proposed. Dave and Phil had just time to catch the 1:24 train—one of the few fast trains that stopped at Griffin—and they promised to telegraph from Albany the same night, if they found anything worth reporting.

“I am glad we are making a start toward something, anyway,” Worth remarked, when he and Paul had waved good-bye to the two on the train, and turned toward the hotel again.

“Tell you what, though, Bill! Let’s just keep right on the job every minute, ourselves, and maybe we can surprise the fellows—get hold of something awfully important.” Paul was pretty serious.

“Sure!” said Billy.

Then came the stumbling block. It was all very well to say “keep on the job,” but just what to do that might be worth while was another problem.

“Funny we never heard a word from that ‘A. W. Kull, Harkville, New York,’ if our telegram was ever delivered there,” said Worth, thinking aloud, somewhat later. “Let’s ask the office here to find out what became of our message. It won’t cost anything.”

“Oh, gravy! That has nothing to do with us! It’s the Six we’re after, Bill!” But notwithstanding this objection, the Griffin telegraph office was asked for the information.

The operator kindly offered to send a service message, as it is called, desiring the Harkville office to report on the matter. Harkville replied in due time. The message to “A. W. Kull” was delivered at his residence. Why it was not answered the telegraph people did not know, of course.

During the afternoon the boys also met Chief Fobes. With his stick under his arm, he leaned against a railing at the Bank building, eating peanuts.

“Nothin’ doin’,” was his reply to their inquiry. “Ain’t likely to be,” he added, discouragingly. “It ain’t our luck, somehow. It may be here or any place around here that something will happen, but of course the gentry don’t stay in these smaller places, and it’s always in the bigger towns that they’re nabbed if they don’t get away altogether.”

“Oh, yes, I see,” said Billy Worth, but when he and Paul had walked on, he remarked: “No, it is not Mr. Fobes’ luck to catch anything. I reckon he banks more on luck than he does on work, though.”

“‘From the standpoint of the law,’” grinned Jones. But then lest he and Worth should fall into the same error, he said briskly, “But come on, Bill, we’ll have to hustle if we’re going to find anything.”

Meanwhile Dave and Phil were approaching Albany. On the train they mapped out their general plan of work. Phil was to interview the police officials while Dave made inquiries at the headquarters of the automobile club.