“Not for the last ten minutes,” replied the other. “What can have become of him?”
“I guess he got tired and went back to the hotel,” suggested Harry.
“That must be it. Come on, let’s go and see if he is all right.”
They started off, but on the way were halted by the stableman.
“Thank you, boys, for helping me!” he exclaimed warmly, extending his hand. “It was mighty white of you.”
“I hope your loss was not very heavy,” said Frank.
“Oh, no; I had that covered by insurance. A good thing I had, too. If ever I get my hands on that rascal, Wild Bill Jenkins, I’ll make it hot for him.”
“Not only him but your friends—or whatever you like to call ’em. The scalliwags suspected we might be on the lookout for ’em, and so we were, but at the wrong door. While we were expecting ’em to come sneaking up in front they walks up behind and sets a fire. They’d fix your aeroplane forever and a day, they thought, and as for my barn they didn’t bother about that.”
“That must be it,” exclaimed Frank. “I’d like to get my hands on the rascals.”
“Let’s drive after them and have them arrested at Pintoville. We can easily do it,” suggested Billy.
“All right, you and Bart take the auto. I’ve got to find Mr. Joyce.”
“_Where is the auto?_” suddenly exclaimed Harry, looking about him. “It was here while we were working at the fire and now it’s gone.”
“Yes, gone. Look, there’s not a sign of it.”
“That’s right,” said the stableman; “looks like that chu-chu cart had flown away. Wall, if it’s in this town it won’t take long to find it.”
The stableman, who the boys now found out was also mayor, at once ordered out several men with instructions to search for the missing car, but they all reported half an hour later, when the town had been thoroughly searched, that not a trace of it could be found.
In the meantime a search had been conducted for old Mr. Joyce, but he also had vanished as mysteriously as the auto.
“What can have become of them?” exclaimed Frank, despairingly. “Without the auto and our supplies we cannot go any further.”
At this juncture a man came rushing up with a report that searchers had found the tracks of two autos, both going out of the town over the Pintoville road.
“Pintoville is where Luther Barr is staying,” cried Frank.