Page:Dave Porter on Cave Island.djvu/56

44 Academy let out a long, low whistle of surprise.

"You know something?" demanded Dave.

"Maybe I do," was Mallory's slow answer. "Yes, I am sure I do," he added. "You can put the puzzle together yourself if you wish, Porter—because, you see, I hate to accuse anybody."

"What do you know?"

"I know this: Less than an hour ago we met two fellows on the river, one with a hamper and the other with a bundle that looked as if it was done up in an overcoat turned inside out. We came on the fellows rather suddenly, at a turn where there were some bushes."

"Our stuff, as sure as you're a foot high!" cried Phil.

"Who were the fellows, do you know?" demanded the senator's son.

At this question Mallory looked at Holt and Bazen.

"I wasn't exactly sure, but" He hesitated to go on.

"I was sure enough," chimed in Holt. "They were those chaps who came to our school from Oak Hall and then ran away—Jasniff and Merwell. How about it, Tom?"

"I think they were Jasniff and Merwell," answered Tom Bazen. "To be sure, as soon as they saw us, they skated away as fast as they could,