“Ha! ha! The police have arrived!” cried the second masked man, who was armed with a small section of a garden hose.
“We must vanish!” cried the other masked fellow. “They want to put us in jail for a thousand years!” and he began to retreat towards the woods behind the cottage.
“Here, hold up!” called out Andy, a sudden thought flashing into his mind. “I think I know those chaps,” he added to Jack.
“They have robbed our home!” called out the cripple. “Please stop them!”
By this time the two masked men were running for the woods with all the speed at their command. Jack and Andy rushed after them, leaving their bicycles at the cottage door.
“What do you mean by saying you think you know those chaps?” asked Jack.
“Don’t you remember Mr. Strong’s two crazy relatives—Bart Callax and Paul Shaff? I believe the masked fellows are the same.”
“By jinks, I think you’re right, Andy! But I thought Mr. Strong had those relatives of his cared for.”
“They must have broken away again—crazy people have a way of running off, you know.”
“Well, those rascals acted as if they were half loony,” was the young major’s comment.
All this while the cadets were racing after the two strange individuals, who were now crashing along between the trees and bushes of the woods. The men were fleet of foot, and slowly but surely they drew out of sight of their pursuers.
“It’s no use,” panted Andy at last. “After such a ride as we’ve had on our wheels I’ve no wind left for a foot race,” and he came to a halt and leaned heavily against a tree for support.
“I wish I knew for certain that the two rascals were really those crazy men,” was Jack’s comment, as he, too, halted. “That would clear up the mystery of the hold-up you and Pepper experienced the time the tire was punctured.
“Well, we can tell Mr. Strong about this, when we get back to Putnam Hall. He can telegraph to the folks who had the men in charge and learn if they have escaped.”
Having rested, the chums retraced their steps to the cottage. They had run into the woods the best part of half a mile, and just before they came in sight of the cottage they met the crippled boy, who had walked after them as well as his condition would permit.
“Did you catch them?” he asked, anxiously.