CHAPTER XXI STUCK ON THE ROAD

Twice Dave tried to back the car and then go ahead, but without avail. The machine settled down still farther in the mud of the road, and there it stuck.

“Now what are we going to do?” demanded the senator’s son, impatiently.

“I don’t know, Roger,” was the slow reply. “We’ve got to do something—we can’t stay in this mud-puddle all day.”

“It’s an outrage that they marked this road for a detour,” continued Roger. “Why, a team of horses would have all they could do to get through such a spot as this!”

“I guess I’ll have to get out for help,” said Dave. “Too bad! To think of getting stuck inside of three hours after leaving home!” and he made a grimace.

There was no help for it, and, reaching over into the tonneau of the car, Dave got out a pair of rubbers and put them on; and Roger did the same. Then both leaped out of the car and made their way to where the footing was fairly firm.

213“The road seems to be pretty good farther on,” announced our hero, after an examination. “But I’m afraid we’ll have to get somebody with a team of horses or oxen to pull us out of that hole. The car will never do it under its own power.”

They walked on, and presently came in sight of a farm nestling in a small valley beyond the hill. They walked up to this, and found a farmer in the barnyard, cleaning the mud from one of his horses.

“Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you?” hailed the man, as they walked up.

“I guess we got here just in time,” returned Dave. “There’s no use in finishing that cleaning until you’ve done a little job for us.”

“Eh? What’s that?” demanded the farmer curiously.

The chums explained the situation, and the farmer, whose name was Rawson, readily agreed to take two of his horses and the necessary tackle and assist them in getting the automobile out of the mud. In less than ten minutes the three were on their way to where the car was stalled. Mr. Rawson went to work quickly and with a precision that showed he knew exactly what he was doing.

“As soon as I give the word, you turn on your power and throw her into low gear,” he said. “I think we’ll have you out of this in a jiffy.”

And so it proved, the car coming up from the mud by the combined power of itself and the horses 214with hardly an effort. Then the team was unhooked, and Dave ran the car along the highway to where the farmer said farther traveling would be perfectly safe.

“By the way, we are on a rather peculiar errand around here,” said Dave, after he had settled for the farmer’s services. “May I ask if you have seen any gypsies in this vicinity during the last couple of weeks?”

“I don’t know about their being gypsies,” answered Mr. Rawson. “I had some trouble with a couple of tramps who robbed my chicken-coop about ten days or two weeks ago. I found they had been camping out in one of our sheds down in the woods. They wore bandana neckerchiefs and bright-colored vests.”

“That sounds as if they were gypsies! What became of them?”

“I can’t tell you about that. You see, one night we lost two of the chickens, and so I set a watch, and the next night I saw these two fellows sneaking up toward the house. I had my shotgun, and asked them what they wanted, and both of them dived out of sight behind some bushes and then ran for the woods. I followed them as far as the shed, and after that I lost track of them, and I’ve never seen them since. The next day I went down to the shed, thinking they might be hanging around 215somewhere, and there I saw they had been camping out in the shed, and saw where they had cooked the chickens and eaten them.”

“That sounds pretty interesting,” said Dave. “But I hardly think those fellows could have been the men we are looking for. The gypsies we are trying to spot must have had some money, and I don’t think they would camp out in that shed you mention. However, I’m going to remember it,” he added.

The chums questioned the farmer further, but got very little satisfaction. Then the journey in the automobile was resumed.

“What makes you think those fellows could not have been Bopeppo and Vazala?” questioned Roger, when they were once again speeding along the highway.

“I think this kidnapping was conducted in a much more high-toned fashion—if you can call it that, Roger. Those gypsies who used to camp on the outskirts of Crumville were far from poor. In fact, I have an idea that old Mother Domoza is really wealthy.”

“What! Wealthy, and live like that?”

“Exactly. I think she’s a first-class miser. A good many of the gypsies are—especially the older ones. They pretend to be very poor, but they own all sorts of jewelry, precious stones, and, 216very often, quantities of gold coin. They won’t trust the banks, but carry the stuff around their person, or else bury it somewhere.”

“But these fellows might have been frightened over something, and gone into hiding on that account,” suggested Roger.

“That may be—and I don’t intend to forget what Mr. Rawson said,” answered Dave. “It’s also possible that those two fellows may have been just hangers-on, who helped Bopeppo, Vazala and Mother Domoza, and maybe Nick Jasniff, to commit the crime.”

By noon the chums had stopped at one more way station, and also at one of the water tanks near where the hot box on the train had been discovered. They went up and interviewed the man in charge of the tank, but he could give them no satisfaction.

“I can’t tell you who left the train or who got on board,” he said. “I went down to look at the hot box along with the engineer, and I helped him get some water, and I didn’t pay much attention to anything else.”

“Have you seen any fellows around here who look like gypsies?” questioned Dave.

“Yes. I saw a couple of that class of men walking up the track either the day before that train came along or the day after. I’ve been trying to make up my mind which day it was since I 217read about this kidnapping, but I can’t say for sure.”

Leaving the vicinity of the water tank, the chums continued along the highway which ran within sight of the railroad. Reaching a convenient spot in the shade of a big tree, and where there was a spring and a watering trough, they came to a halt and there enjoyed a portion of the lunch they had brought along, washing it down with a drink of pure, cold water.

“Well, we haven’t learned anything yet that is worth while,” remarked Roger, during the course of the meal.

“I didn’t expect it was going to be any easy kind of a job,” Dave replied. “Even if we get the slightest kind of clue to this mystery, Roger, we can think ourselves lucky.”

“Oh, I know that.”

During the afternoon they stopped at five other places, putting to the people they met the questions which they had been asking all along the line. In every instance, however, no one could give them any information, although most of the men and women were very anxious to learn if anything had been heard of the missing girls.

“I hope those kidnappers are caught,” said one of the men at the last station at which they stopped. “They are not fit to be at large.”

“They ought to be hung!” declared his wife 218emphatically. “Why, since I heard about the disappearance of those two girls, I haven’t dared to let my little girl and boy leave the house! It’s terrible! I do so hope they catch those rascals and punish them well!”

Evening found the chums at the town of Chesleyville, and here, as there was a fairly good hotel, they resolved to remain for the night. They drove around to the hotel and left the car in the garage attached to the hostelry, and then made arrangements for a room and meals. They had supper, and then Dave suggested that they take a walk down to the railroad station and in the vicinity of the freight yard.

“I don’t know whether we’ll learn anything or not, but we can’t afford to miss any chances,” was the way he expressed himself.

“That’s the talk!” cried Roger. “We don’t want anything to get away from us.”

They had quite a talk with the station agent and a number of others, including a young fellow who had charge of a news-stand.

“I’ve seen pictures of those girls who were kidnapped,” declared the youth, “and unless I am greatly mistaken, one of them—the taller of the two—bought a magazine and a weekly from me.”

This was interesting information, and the two lost no time in questioning the youth closely. He 219described the taller of the two girls, telling how she had been dressed and what sort of hat she had worn. The description of the suit and the head covering tallied closely with what Mrs. Wadsworth had said Laura had worn.

“What did she buy—do you remember that?” questioned Roger. And thereupon the news vendor mentioned a popular monthly magazine and an equally popular weekly.

“And you saw the other girl?” asked Dave.

“Yes, at the car window. She didn’t get out, but the other girl went to the open window and asked her what she wanted, and then she came back and got the weekly. That was after she had bought the magazine. She dropped her hand-bag and had to turn around to pick it up, and that’s how I came to notice her.”

This was all the youth could tell, but it was something, and the chums returned to the hotel in a thoughtful mood.

“If that really was Laura, and if the girl in the car was Jessie, then that proves one thing,” remarked Dave. “They weren’t kidnapped anywhere between here and Crumville.”

“And that means that it did happen somewhere between here and Boston,” added Roger. “But, gracious, Dave! it’s a long way from here to that city!”

Neither of the young civil engineers felt in the 220humor for retiring early, so they passed into the reading-room of the hotel, to glance at one or two of the newspapers. Dave was perusing an article in reference to the disappearance of the girls, and Roger was deep in some news from Washington which affected his father, when both were startled by an exclamation made by some one who had stepped from the outside to a broad window which opened upon a veranda of the hotel.

“Who was that?” asked Roger, as he looked up just in time to see somebody disappearing from view.

“I don’t know, I’m sure,” answered Dave.

Struck by the peculiarity of the movement which had taken place, both walked over to the window and looked outside. Here all was in semi-darkness, the only light coming from the hotel and a small street lamp some distance away. They saw the figure of a young man hurrying down the street, and as the individual passed under the street light, he pulled up the collar of his coat and pulled down the soft hat he wore.

“Whoever he was, he got out in a mighty hurry,” was Roger’s comment.

To this Dave did not answer. He was wondering who the strange individual could be.