"What will you do?"

"Follow them."

"Will you whistle for Tom and Martin Harris?"

"No; that might arouse suspicion. Let us follow them alone.

When they return to their yacht we can tell the others,"

concluded d.i.c.k.

CHAPTER XXII

THE BAXTERS MAKE A NEW MOVE

As silently as possible d.i.c.k and Sam came after Baxter and his toady John Fenwick. The pair of evildoers left the stretch of meadow as fast as they could, and hurried up a narrow path leading to a half-tumbled-down brick factory.

At the corner of the dilapidated building they paused, and Dan Baxter emitted a long, low whistle. A silence of several seconds followed, and then a man appeared out of the darkness.

"Who's dat?" came the question.

"It's me, Girk--Dan Baxter," replied the former bully of Putnam Hall with small regard for the grammar that had been taught to him.

"Who's dat with you?"

"Mumps. He's all right."

"I don't know about dat. Yer father t'ought yer would come alone," growled the tramp thief.

"I've got a new movement on, Buddy. Take us to my father without delay."

"Is dat fellow to be trusted?"

"Yes, you can trust me," replied Mumps with considerable nervousness. His steps in the direction of wrong were beginning to frighten him.

At the start he had thought of nothing but to aid Josiah Crabtree in his suit with Mrs. Stanhope, and had calculated that after the marriage the running off with Dora would be overlooked. But here he was taking the girl miles from her home and a.s.sociated with two men who had robbed a firm of bankers of many thousands of dollars. The outlook, consequently, worried him very much.

"All right, den," muttered Buddy Girk. "Follow me."

He disappeared within the ruined factory, and Baxter and Mumps went after him. Listening intently at a broken-out window, d.i.c.k and Sam heard them ascend to an upper floor.

"I guess we have tracked Arnold Baxter," whispered d.i.c.k. "I wonder if he and Girk have that stolen money and the securities here?"

"More than likely, d.i.c.k. Thieves don't generally leave their booty far out of their sight, so I've been told."

"I would like to make sure. I wonder if we can't go inside and hear some more of their talk?"

"We would be running a big risk. If Arnold Baxter caught us he would--would--Well, he wouldn't be very friendly, that's all," and Sam gave a shiver.

"I'm going in. You can remain outside, on watch. If you want me, whistle as we agreed."

"But be careful, d.i.c.k!" pleaded the younger brother.

"I will be."

"And don't stay too long," added Sam, who did not relish being left alone in such a forlorn looking spot, and in the intense darkness which had now settled down over them.

"I won't be any longer than necessary, you can depend on that,"

replied the big brother.

As silently as a cat after a mouse, d.i.c.k entered the gloomy building and felt his way over the half-rotted floor to where the stairs were located.

Ascending these, he found himself in something of a hallway, the upper floor of the building being divided into several apartments by wooden part.i.tions nine or ten feet in height.

From one of the apartments shone a faint light. To this he made his way, and, looking through a good-sized knot-hole in the part.i.tion, he saw Arnold Baxter, Girk, and the two newcomers, seated on several boxes and boards. On one box stood a candle thrust in the neck of a bottle, some liquor and gla.s.ses, and a pasteboard box containing a cold lunch.

"So you're glad I've come, eh?" Dan Baxter was saying to his father.

"Yes, I am glad," was the slow reply, "that is--I want to get away from here as soon as possible."

"Why don't you go?"

"I'm afraid to go up into the town. I would prefer to go away by boat."

"To where?"

"To Searock, on the Jersey coast."

"Do you want us to take you there?"

"If you can do it, Dan. I'll give Mumps and your sailor friend a nice little sum for your trouble."

"And don't I get anything?" cried the son sharply.

"To be sure, Dan."

"How much?"

"I'll give you a hundred dollars."

"Pooh! What's that? I want more."

"We'll arrange that later."

"You and Girk are making a fortune out of this deal."

"Not as much as you think."