The Rover Boys on the Farm | Page 7

up a rocky ledge managed to reach a point above and to one
side of the runabout and not over a dozen feet from it.
"Then you weren't going to stop here, Merrick?" asked the man leaning
against the wheel.
"Not now, Dangler," was the reply of the man with the pipe. "The
storm drove us in here."
"When do you expect to meet this Randolph Rover?"
"Very soon."
"He ought to be easy--he is so simple minded."
"Oh, I think we can work him right enough," put in the third man, who
was tall and thin-cheeked.
"Well, if you do, don't forget that I get my share, Pike," said the man
called Dangler.
"Haven't you always gotten your share?" demanded Pike.
"I suppose I have."

"And haven't we given you the information whenever any valuable
freight was coming this way?" put in the man called Merrick.
"Yes, and got your full share of the proceeds, while I ran the risk,"
growled Dangler. "It's getting dangerous--I'm going to quit--after the
next big haul," went on the man with the pipe.
"All right--as you wish," answered Merrick. "I wish this storm would
let up. The road will be something fierce for our runabout."
"And bad for my wagon," growled Dangler in return.
The boys listened to the conversation with deep interest. The reference
to their uncle amazed them, and they wondered what the two men in
the runabout had in mind to do. By their talk it was evident they meant
to accomplish something unlawful.
"They are going to play Uncle Randolph some trick," whispered Sam.
"We must get home and warn him."
"What we ought to do is to have the whole crowd arrested," answered
Tom. "They are all implicated in the theft of freight."
"That's the talk," said Dick. "The question is, How can we do it? We
are no match for those three men, and more than likely they are armed."
After this the three men conversed in such a low tone the boys could
not hear a quarter of what was said. But they learned enough to know
that Merrick and Pike were going to meet their uncle and play him false
in some way, and they heard the words "traction bonds" and "coupons"
several times.
"Uncle Randolph had ten thousand dollars' worth of traction company
bonds," said Dick. "He bought them only a short while ago. They pay
five and a half per cent. interest and he thought them a first-class
investment."
"Oh, we'll have to warn him," said Sam. "He is so open-hearted he

would trust most anybody."
Merrick had descended from the runabout and gone out of the cave.
Now he came back, said something to the others, and started up the
auto. In another moment he had the machine turned around. Then it
spun out of the cave and down a fairly good road in the direction of
Carwell. The man named Dangler followed the runabout to the road
and watched it disappear around a turn bordered by trees. The storm
was now rolling away to the westward and the rain had ceased.
"They have gone!" cried Tom. "Where to?"
"Perhaps to our farm--to see Uncle Randolph," answered Sam. "We
ought to follow them as quickly as we can."
"I think we had better capture the fellow left behind," said Dick. "We
ought to be able to do it."
"That's the talk," said Tom. "Sure we can do it, being three to one."
Dangler watched the runabout and then gazed up and down the
mountain for several minutes. Then of a sudden he started in a direction
opposite to that taken by the machine.
"He is going away!" cried Sam.
"Come on after him!" called his big brother, and ran from the cave with
the others at his heels. Just as he did this Dangler glanced back and saw
them.
"Hey, you!" he cried in consternation.
"Stop!" called out Dick. "We want you."
At this command Dangler was more amazed than ever. But of a sudden
he appeared to realize something of what had happened and
commenced to run.
"Stop!" cried Tom and Sam, but at this the man only ran the faster.

"Come on--we've got to catch that rascal!" exclaimed Dick, and started
to sprint. The others followed as quickly as they could, and a rapid
chase along the mountain road ensued. But if the boys could run so
could the freight robber, and he made the best possible use of his legs
until he gained a side trail. Then he darted into this, and when the
Rover boys came up he had disappeared.
"Where is he?" panted Sam.
"He took to this path, but he isn't in sight," answered Dick. He was
almost winded himself.
"Come on, he must be somewhere around," put in