"Do you see anything?" queried his brother.
"Nothing much. One or two of the bushes over yonder seem to be brushed
aside and broken."
"What do you think we had best do now?"
"Listen!"
Both remained silent for several minutes, but nothing out of the
ordinary reached their ears.
"We may as well give it up, Sam. It is growing dark and there is no
telling where this search would lead us. We might even get lost in the
woods."
They retraced their steps as quickly as they could to where they had
left the rowboat.
"What luck?" queried Fred.
"None; he got away from us."
"It's too bad," said Powell; and then the return to the camp was made
without further delay.
CHAPTER XXIV
MORE RIVALRY
"Do you mean to tell me that you saw Arnold Baxter?" exclaimed Dick,
after listening to Sam and Tom's story.
"We did," replied the youngest Rover. "There was no mistake?"
"If it wasn't Arnold Baxter do you think he would take such pains to
get out of our reach?" asked Tom.
"That is true, Tom. But it seems so unnatural. What can he be doing in
this out-of-the-way place?"
"As Powell says, he must be keeping out of the reach of the law.
Perhaps he expects to keep shady until this affair blows over."
"As if it would blow over!" cried Sam. "Dick, we ought to do
something."
Captain Putnam had already learned why the four cadets had been late in
returning to camp.
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