"Gone! gone!" the others heard him mutter hoa.r.s.ely. "Gone!"

"What is it?" asked Mr. Porter.

"The casket-the Carwith casket is gone!" And Mr. Wadsworth looked ready to faint as he spoke.

"Were the jewels in it?" questioned Mr. Porter.

"Yes! yes!"

"All of them?" queried Dave.

"Yes, every one. I placed them in the casket myself before we locked up for the day."

"Maybe the casket is on the floor, under the doors," suggested Dave; but he had little hope of such being the case.

All started a search, lasting for several minutes. But it was useless, the casket with its precious jewelry had disappeared. Oliver Wadsworth tottered to a chair that Phil placed for him and sank heavily upon it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THE CASKET-THE CARWITH CASKET IS GONE!"-Page 96.]

"Gone!" he muttered, in a strained voice. "Gone! And if I cannot recover it, I shall be ruined!"

CHAPTER XI-LOOKING FOR THE ROBBERS

All in the offices listened with interest to Oliver Wadsworth's words.

"The jewels were probably what the rascals were after," was Mr. Porter's comment. "Evidently they did not touch any of the gold plate or silverware."

"That shows they must have known the jewels were here," said Dunston Porter.

"Couldn't they find out about them from the workmen?" questioned Dave.

"I suppose so-although it is a rule of the works for the men to keep silent regarding precious stones. No one but myself and the general manager are supposed to know just what we have on hand."

"We must get busy and see if we cannot follow the robbers!" cried David Porter. "No use in wasting time here now. Let us scatter in all directions. One can go to the railroad station and the others to the roads leading out of town. We may pick up some clew."

"The police, we'll have to notify them!" said Roger.

"Yes! yes! Call the police up on the telephone!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mr.

Wadsworth, starting to his feet.

Dave ran to the end of the office, where a telephone rested on a stand.

The shock of the explosion had severed the wires.

"It's out of commission," he said. "I'll have to use the one in the shipping-room."

He left the offices, and made his way through two of the workrooms. Phil went with him and so did Roger.

"This will be a terrible blow for Mr. Wadsworth," was the comment of the shipowner's son.

"He said if he didn't get the jewels back it would ruin him," added Roger.

"Oh, we must get them back!" cried Dave. "Why, they are worth a fortune!"

In the shipping-room all was dark, and the boys had to first light a match and then turn on the electric illumination. The telephone was near by.

"Ruined!" cried our hero, as he beheld the wrenched-away receiver and transmitter.

"Here is where they must have caught the watchman while he was telephoning to Mr. Wadsworth!" said Phil.

"That must be it, Phil. We'll have to go to the police station, or find another telephone."

The boys rushed back to the offices and told of what they had discovered. Then Phil and Roger volunteered to run to the police station, over a quarter of a mile away.

"If you'll do that, I'll go to the railroad station," said Dave. "I may be able to pick up some clew. The twelve-fifteen train is almost due and those rascals may try to board it. If I see anybody that looks suspicious, I'll have him detained."

"Don't get into trouble!" called his father after him.

"I'll try to take care of myself, Dad," he answered.

Dave ran the whole distance to the depot. As he went along he kept his eyes wide open for a possible appearance of the robbers, peering down side-streets and alleyways, and into vacant lots. But he saw n.o.body until close to the station and then he received a sudden hail from in front of a coal office.

"Hi, you! Where are you going in such a hurry?" And a man in a dark blue uniform stepped into view, night-stick in hand.

"Just the man I want to see!" cried our hero. "I guess you know me, Mr.

Anderson. Come on down to the depot, quick! We must get there before the train comes in!"

"Why, it's Dave Porter!" exclaimed the policeman. "What's the row, Dave?"

"Mr. Wadsworth's jewelry works has been robbed. They have just gone to notify headquarters. I thought maybe the robbers might try to get away on the train. We want to stop any suspicious characters."

"The jewelry works robbed? You don't say! All right, I'll go right along. Hope we can catch 'em!" And Officer Anderson swung up beside Dave, and both continued on a dog-trot to the depot.

n.o.body but the station master was in sight. Dave and the policeman thought it best to keep out of sight.

"You stay at one end and I'll stay at the other," said the officer. "If you see anybody suspicious, whistle twice and I'll come on the double-quick."

At last they heard the train coming. n.o.body had appeared, but presently Dave caught sight of a burly figure sneaking beside several empty freight cars on a side-track. He gave the signal for aid and then sneaked after the man. By this time the train had rolled into the little station.

Only a well-known young man of Crumville alighted, accompanied by an elderly lady, his mother. There were no pa.s.sengers to get aboard, and the conductor swung his lantern for the engineer to go ahead again.

At that moment the burly fellow near the freight cars made a dive for the trucks of a baggage car, with the evident intention of stealing a ride. He had almost reached the trucks when Dave came up behind him and hauled him back.

"Not so fast!" said our hero, firmly. "I want to talk to you."