Page:Boys of Columbia High on the River.djvu/36

26 bent on learning whether there could be anything there that should be investigated.

"Look here what I've found," he said, presently.

"An old leather bag, I declare. So one of them was on his travels, eh? What's that you're doing, Frank? Say, hold on, do you think it's wise to open a man's bag that way, and squint inside? What ails you?" and Lanky bent down, trying to see better, as he heard his companion utter an exclamation of surprise.

"The bag's got a lot of stuff in it, watches and things!" Frank said, in a low voice.

"Whew!" ejaculated his chum, glancing around nervously as he spoke; "say, this thing's getting thicker all the time! It isn't horse stealing after all. Frank, I remember now hearing my dad talking about the robbery of a jewelry store up at Fordham only two days ago. Do you think them men could have been the ones, and this is the boodle?"

Lanky was so excited that he lost all control of rules of grammar. Even his voice had taken on a husky tone, and his hands were trembling violently as he clutched the arm of his chum.

"I honestly believe that's just what it means. You see they were afraid of being held up at any minute, and the shock frightened them. But they may come back! If they suspected that it was only a couple of schoolboys here, they'd chase us off."