Thank goodness, I was in a fair way to see Joe Wayring once more! I was as happy as I wanted to be after that. I hoped Mr. Swan would take me home at once, for I was impatient to see Fly-rod and the long bows and the toboggan and all the rest of my friends in Mount Airy. I looked around at the members of the squad and saw many familiar faces among them. In fact, I had seen them all at one time or another, with the exception—could I believe my eyes? I looked again, and told myself that there could be no mistake about it. There were two strangers among them, and they were dressed in slouch hats and long dark coats. They were neither hand-cuffed nor bound, but they were closely watched by two armed officers who took no part in beating the bushes. They were the bank robbers—the very men I had tumbled out into the lake. If I had had the slightest doubt of their identity it would have been dispelled when the deputy sheriff said—“Now, boys, we’ve got some evidence. Who can stretch this canvas canoe?”
Mr. Swan replied that he could, and he did. Under his skillful hands I quickly assumed my usual symmetrical proportions; but before he was through with me one of the robbers called out—
“That’s the boat. That’s the very boat that we started to cross the lake in.”
“Because, as we told you, we examined him with the aid of a lighted match before we would trust ourselves to him,” replied one of the prisoners. “I believe that boy tipped us over on purpose.”
“I haven’t the least doubt of it,” assented the sheriff. “You let him see the inside of one of the valises, and of course the sight of so much money excited his cupidity.”
“I hope Jim didn’t hit him when he shot at him,” said the other robber, in an anxious tone.
“Haven’t I told you more than a dozen times that you need not borrow trouble on that score?” asked the officer. “If the boy had been hurt we should probably have heard of it when we crossed the outlet at the hatchery the next morning. Robbing the bank is all you will have to answer for.”
And wasn’t that enough? I wondered. I did not know just what the penalty was for the offense of which they were guilty, but I did know that they were destined to pass some of the best years of their lives in prison. I was surprised to hear the sheriff talk so familiarly with the robbers, but really there was nothing surprising in it. Having captured them, as he was in duty bound to do, he showed them as much consideration as he showed the guides he had summoned to his assistance, but he kept a sharp eye on them to see that they did not escape.