"Where have you been?" the jewelry fakir asked, solicitously. "I've come here two or three times without finding you, and had almost begun to believe old Nathan succeeded in getting a warrant."

Teddy was undecided as to whether he should tell this acquaintance of all he had seen or not; but, after some deliberation, and in view of the fact that he also had been accused of the burglary, concluded to do so.

"We've found out where Long Jim is hiding the stuff he stole from my uncle," he said, and then explained what had been done during the last hour.

Hazelton was surprised that so much information had been gained; but he was able to cause Teddy an equal amount of astonishment.

"I don't believe the packages you saw came from the old man's store. I heard, about two hours ago, that a store here in town was robbed last night, and it isn't dead sure, after your uncle's accusations, and what I have done on the fair grounds, that I sha'n't be arrested on suspicion. Most likely the goods taken down the creek were stolen here; but I don't understand why those fellows should work so boldly."

"Probably they think, as one of them said the other night, while so many articles are being carried to and fro."

"Very likely that may be true, and now comes the question of what shall be done regarding the information you have gained. I stand in a mighty delicate position, and, quite naturally, want to save myself, if possible, for even an arrest when there is little or no proof, ain't to be contemplated calmly."

"You ought to know better than I how we should go to work. Dan an' I thought there would be plenty of time, for if those fellows were going to skip very soon they wouldn't have taken the trouble to carry the stuff down there, where it could not be gotten away quickly."

"I'll think the matter over, Teddy, and come back here in a couple of hours," Hazelton said, after a moment's thought.

"Don't tell anyone what you found out until after seeing me again."

This conversation had been carried on at the rear of the cane-board, where the customers could not overhear it, and when the jewelry fakir walked toward the exhibition building it was necessary to satisfy Tim's curiosity regarding what had been accomplished.

"I don't s'pose it's any of my business," the latter said, when Teddy concluded the story; "but I wouldn't be afraid to bet all I shall earn this week that you'll have trouble with that feller before the sc.r.a.pe is over. He knows so awful much that somethin' tough is bound to happen."

Teddy did not think there was any good cause for alarm, more especially since he felt confident Dan would keep an eye on the oarsman, and during the next two hours he thought of nothing save earning money, for customers were plenty, and even with the a.s.sistance of the boy Tim had engaged it was all he and his clerk could do to wait upon those who were anxious to win a cane or knife.

Now and then some of the other fakirs would visit him; but, as a rule, all were so busy that there was little time for the exchange of compliments, and even the cry of "Three rings for five cents, with the chance to get a dollar cane or knife for nothing!" was not needed to stimulate trade.

It was two hours from the time of his return when Dan came up looking decidedly uneasy, and Teddy did not stop to make change for the man who had just patronized him, before he asked, hurriedly:

"Now, what's up?"

"Sam is missing."

"What do you mean? How can that be?"

"He was to row around the creek near the landing; but for the last hour no one has seen him, and, what is more, the boat can't be found. Long Jim an' his friend haven't come ash.o.r.e, as near as I can make out, an'

it looks to me as if that foolish Sam has got into trouble through trying to play detective."

CHAPTER XV.

_SAM'S ADVENTURES._

In order to explain Sam's absence, and one or two other incidents in their regular sequence, it is necessary to go back to the moment when, his friends having landed, the amateur detective was left to his own devices.

His first impulse was to report his arrival to the manager of the boat exhibit, and then go about his routine duties, but before this very proper plan could be carried into effect he chanced to see Hazelton on the sh.o.r.e.

"Now, what's he layin' around there for?" Sam asked of himself. "I'll bet Dan or Teddy has given the whole snap away, an' he's come to pull in the burglars. It's a mighty mean trick for them to play after I've worked the case so far that there's nothing to do but nab 'em. He'll get all the praise, an' folks won't know the job was managed by me."

The longer Sam thought of this apparent ingrat.i.tude and treachery on the part of Teddy and Dan the more angry he grew, and it did not require many moments' thought for him to succeed in convincing himself that he had been very shabbily treated.

Continuing to talk to himself, or rather at the tiller, on which his eyes were fixed, he added:

"Folks have said so much about their savin' them women from drownin', when I mighter done the same thing if I'd been willin' to make a fool of myself, that they want to scoop in everything; but I could stop this little game by jest goin' ahead on my own hook. If I sneaked down the creek an' brought back the stuff them men have been hidin' people would begin to know how much I understand about detective work."

This appeared in his mind as the most brilliant scheme he had ever conceived, and in a very few seconds Sam decided that it should be carried into effect.

First, and with no very well-defined idea of why such a course was necessary, he rowed cautiously to and fro past the landing stage, scrutinizing closely every face he saw, and mentally hugging himself because of the excitement which would be caused by his return with the stolen property.

Then he turned the boat, and began to row down the creek, stopping every few seconds to gaze around in such a mysterious manner that the suspicions of any one who observed him would have been instantly aroused.

In this manner, which he believed the only true way for a first-cla.s.s detective to approach his prey, Sam had rowed less than half a mile when he saw Long Jim and his companion returning.

Now the time had come when true cunning was necessary, and the amateur detective began to display it by pulling the boat sharply around, heading her for an indentation on the opposite sh.o.r.e.

Here he ran her bow aground, and lying at full length in the bottom, peered out at the men in the most stealthy manner.

They had already taken notice of his erratic movements, and now regarded him intently, but, without checking the headway of their own craft, in a few minutes were beyond sight around the bend.

"There," Sam said, with a long-drawn breath of relief, as he arose to a sitting posture, "if Teddy an' Dan had been here them fellers would have tumbled to the whole racket, but I've put 'em off the scent, an' will have plenty of time to do my work."

He pulled out from the sh.o.r.e once more, gazed long and earnestly up and down the creek, and then, in the same ridiculous manner as before, continued the journey.

The trip which should have consumed no more than an hour even with the most indolent oarsman, was not completed until twice that time had elapsed, and then fully fifteen minutes were spent by this very cautious boy in landing.

He pulled his boat up high out of the water, and, in order to conceal her, heaped such a pile of dry gra.s.s on top of her that it must have attracted the attention of any one pa.s.sing, more especially those who were familiar with the creek.

This done he went toward the barn after the fashion of an old-time stage villain, halting at the slightest sound, and peering in every direction, fancying himself surrounded by foes.

Not until he had circled completely around the barn twice did he venture to enter, and then, much to his disappointment, there was nothing to be seen. The building appeared to be absolutely empty, and even his eagle eye failed to discover any traces of recent occupancy.

"Well, this is mighty funny," he said, with a sigh of disappointment.

"Them fellers surely brought a lot of stuff in here, but they must have carried it out again."

Having expended so much labor and time in reaching this place, he did not intend to return until after making a thorough search, however, and to this end he investigated one possible hiding-place after another, pulling up the boards of the rude flooring, and peering into places where nothing larger than a mouse could have been hidden.

During this time the burglars were returning with all possible speed.

Sam's actions, both as he came down the creek, and also while screening himself from view, were so suspicious that, guilty as the men were, they immediately concluded what was very near the truth.

Long Jim recognized the boy as having been with Teddy when the bargain for the imaginary cane-board was made, and instead of returning to the fair grounds the two watched, from a point of vantage on the bank, until Master Sam had landed.

His purpose was now evident, and it was necessary the burglars should resort to desperate measures to prevent the loss of their ill-gotten gains as well as to save themselves from imprisonment.

When they arrived where it was possible to look into the barn, Sam was on his knees sc.r.a.ping away the dirt which appeared to have been recently disturbed, and they heard him say in a tone of exultation:

"I've got to it at last, an' now we'll see what Teddy an' Dan have to say when I flash the whole lot of stuff up with n.o.body to help me. I reckon----"