CHAPTER VIII

THE CLOUD BREAKS AWAY

Mr. Stone sank down into a seat.

"Robbed!" he repeated. "Now tell me just what you mean."

In simple words the boys told how they had been held up and despoiled by the tramps.

Mr. Stone could hardly restrain his rage.

"It's the most atrocious and cowardly thing I've heard of for a long time," he ejaculated. "To think of those scoundrels robbing you of everything you had, even your railroad tickets! They ought to be drawn and quartered."

The boys were rather hazy as to what drawing and quartering involved, but they heartily agreed with him.

"I'll have to get busy at once!" Mr. Stone exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "There isn't a minute to lose. Those rascals will know that the officers will be after them as soon as you tell your story and they'll be planning to clear out. They may have started already, for all we know. I'll get the constable and some other men after them and I'll go along to do all I can to put the thieves in jail.

"But first," he went on, "I'll have to fix up you boys. The train will be along in a few minutes. I'll get your tickets for you and give you plenty of money besides to get on with."

"I've already telegraphed for money and I'm expecting it every minute," put in Bobby.

"That's all right, but we can't take chances on that. It may not come in time for you to catch the train. I'll look after the telegram if it comes after you leave, and see that it's sent on to you."

"Of course our folks will make this all right with you," said Fred who, like Bobby himself, hated to be under any money obligation.

"That's understood," assented Mr. Stone. "I'll send them a bill."

But from the whimsical droop at the corner of his mouth it was evident that if the boys' fathers waited for a bill from Mr. Stone they would wait a long time.

He hurried over to the window of the agent's office and bought four additional tickets for Rockledge.

"Take these and distribute them among the other boys," he said, as he handed them to Bobby. "And here's some money to get on with until you hear from your folks," he added, thrusting a number of bills in his hand.

"It's awfully good of you, Mr. Stone," replied Bobby, as he put them in his pocket. "I don't know how to thank you enough. I'll keep careful account and see that you get it back to the last cent."

"Don't worry about that," rejoined Mr. Stone. "I'm only paying back an old debt, and even at that I still owe you a lot. Now you boys go right ahead and forget all your troubles. I'll take full charge of the answer to your telegram and see that it gets to you all right.

"I'd like to stay with you until the train leaves," he went on, "but as I said before, every minute is precious now if we want to have any chance to nab those villains who robbed you. I'll hustle up the constable and I'll let you know later how we come out."

He gave Tommy a kiss and a hug, waved good-bye to the others in a gesture that included them all, and went out of the door. Through the window they could see him going briskly up the village street in a walk that was almost a run.

The boys, left alone, looked gleefully at each other.

"Scubbity-_yow_!" shouted Fred, as he threw his cap to the ceiling.

"All our troubles are over now," exulted Pee Wee.

"Isn't he a brick?" demanded Bobby gratefully.

"Reminds me of the bread cast upon the waters that our minister was talking about last Sunday," remarked Mouser. "He said it would come back to you after many days, and by ginger I believe it now."

"It's more than bread," gloated Pee Wee. "It's cake."

"If Pee Wee says it's cake, it _is_ cake," mocked Fred. "There's nobody knows more than he does about things to eat."

They were now all as full of good spirits as they had formerly been full of misery. They had found that their cloud had a silver lining. In fact there was not a cloud any longer. It had broken away entirely.

Their satisfaction was still greater when, a few minutes later, they saw two sleighs sweep past the station and take the direction that led toward the cabin in the woods. There were three determined-looking men in each sleigh, and among them they recognized the stalwart figure of Mr. Stone.

"They're after them already," cried Fred joyfully. "Gee whiz, Tommy! your father is some hustler."

"He sure is," assented Tommy proudly.

"Here's hoping that they catch the thieves!" exclaimed Mouser.

"Wouldn't it be bully!" cried Bobby. "I sure am crazy to get back my watch."

"And my scarf pin."

"And my sleeve buttons."

"And my seal ring."

The boys watched the sleighs intently until they were drawn out of sight.

"What do you suppose they'll do to the thieves if they catch them?" wondered Bobby.

"I don't know," said Mouser, whose notions of legal procedure were woefully indistinct. "Hang them, maybe."

"Not so bad as that," objected Pee Wee. "But I'll bet they get a good long term in jail."

"Perhaps they'll be drawn and quartered, as Mr. Stone said they ought to be," said Fred hopefully. "What do you suppose that means anyway, fellows?"

"I'm not sure," answered Bobby, "but I guess it means to be cut up into quarters."

"They can cut them up into eighths for all I care," rejoined Fred vindictively. "Especially that fellow who called me red-head."

"Well, what if he did?" said Pee Wee mischievously. "He only told the truth, didn't he?"

"What difference does that make?" flared up Fred, who was rather sensitive on the subject. "You wouldn't like to be called a pig because you're as fat as one, would you?"

"Here, fellows, cut out your scrapping," soothed Bobby.

"Let's agree that Pee Wee's as thin as a rail and Fred's hair is as black as ink," suggested Mouser. "Then we'll all be happy."

In the general laugh that followed, the rumpled feathers were smoothed and all differences forgotten.

A moment later the whistle of the train was heard in the distance.

"Here she comes!" cried Mouser.

"I'm sorry that telegram hasn't come yet," murmured Bobby regretfully.

"Guess old Bailey's rheumatism made him slow in getting up to the house," suggested Fred.

"Well, don't let's worry," observed Pee Wee, who was always ready to shunt his responsibilities to the shoulders of somebody else. "Mr. Stone will look after that."

The boys boarded the train and sank back into their seats with a sigh of relief. Their troubles were over. They had been under a strain that would have been trying even to those much older than these eleven-year-old boys.

"I never thought I'd be cheering for going back to school," remarked Fred. "But I'm ready to do it now. All together, fellows:

"Hurrah for Rockledge!"

They shouted it with a will.