Just as the boys started off on the trail that Prescott had discovered, other figures appeared on the scene.

"Now, may I ask what you girls are doing here?" asked Tom, his tone more agreeable than his words.

"We want to see the fun, whatever is going to happen," declared Susie Sharp.

"Oh, there will be plenty of that, I promise you, if we can find the fellow," a.s.serted Darry bluntly.

"Come along, girls!" cried Belle Meade gleefully.

"But there may be something disagreeable happen, you know, girls,"

d.i.c.k warned them. "If we overtake this fellow there may be a fight."

"If you could call it a fight, when six Gridley high school boys attack one man, then I shall have to change my mind about our high school boys," hinted Laura Bentley teasingly.

It was plain enough that the girls were bent on following them, so no more objections were raised.

"We'll travel so fast that the girls won't be able to keep up,"

whispered Tom Reade to d.i.c.k. "We'll lose 'em, and they'll be glad to hike back to the table."

This, however, proved to be not quite as easy as had been expected.

The trail into the woods was rather a plain one, though it could not be followed at a run.

"Keep behind me, fellows," urged d.i.c.k. "If you keep up with me you may blot out the trail."

So his five chums came after him, with the girls in the rear, in a straggling line.

Into the deepest woods the trail led. "The girls will soon tire of this chase, and face about," Tom told Darry.

Which was precisely what happened.

In the deepest part of the woods d.i.c.k parted a tangle of bushes through which the trail led. Then, in a voice vibrant with agitation, he shouted:

"Come on, fellows! Quick!"

CHAPTER X

SETTING A NEW TRAP

What d.i.c.k had caught sight of, and what had made him call to his chums was the figure of the camp prowler partially dressed seated on the edge of a pool of water fed by a forest brook where evidently he had been bathing.

He had heard d.i.c.k's cry, however. These few instants of time had been enough for the bather to jump up, s.n.a.t.c.h up the remainder of his clothes and set off through the woods with the speed of an antelope.

"Come on!" cheered d.i.c.k Prescott. "Full speed! We'll catch him.

He hasn't his shoes on, and his bare feet will soon go lame on the twigs and stones that he'll step on in running. He can't go far before we nab him."

"Spread out, fellows!" called Tom Reade. "Don't let the rascal slip through our line. d.i.c.k, did you get a good look at him?"

"A fine peep," Prescott affirmed.

"Was he the thief?" Dave demanded.

"The very fellow!" d.i.c.k called back, for he was still in the lead.

"Don't talk any more," Reade warned his friends cautiously. "We'll use up our wind."

As he ran d.i.c.k had an important secret on his mind. This was not quite the time to impart it to his chums, however, so he held his peace and did his best to save his wind.

Thus half a mile, at least, was quickly traversed. By this time the high school boys, running as they had done, began to feel winded.

"I can't go any further," gasped Hazelton, halting and leaning against a tree.

"I'm in the same fix," muttered Danny Grin. as he, too, came to a stop.

Reade, Darrin and Prescott ran on some distance farther, but at last d.i.c.k called a brief signal for a halt.

"Where are you, friend?" bawled d.i.c.k, using his last wind in one resolute vocal effort.

"Friend!" scoffed Reade.

"Of course the fellow will call and tell us where he is!" jeered Darry.

"We won't hurt you---won't try to," d.i.c.k promised solemnly, again sending his voice as far as he could make it travel. "All we want to do is to talk to you---and we're friends honestly!"

"Say, what are you trying to give that thief?" protested Tom, in an indignant undertone.

"Why are you telling him we're friends, and won't hurt him?" insisted Dave Darrin.

"Because I mean just what I say," retorted Prescott, so crisply that, for the moment, no one pressed him with any more questions.

d.i.c.k continued his calls, but received no response.

"By this time that fellow's a mile from here, and still running,"

mocked Dave.

"Or else he doubled on us, somewhere, and is hidden where he can watch us, and laugh at us slyly," suggested Tom, as the three high school boys turned to walk back to camp.

"If he's hiding on our trail, the thief had better not let me catch him laughing at us!" growled Darry indignantly.

"Now, see here, both of you," d.i.c.k Prescott went on, earnestly.

"If we come across that fellow, don't either of you make a grab at him. Just let me handle him---and I'll do it by talking alone.

We mustn't use our fists."

"You've changed your tune wonderfully within the last few minutes,"

muttered Dave.