Page:Harry Castlemon - The Steel Horse.djvu/258

 doesn't say a word about Peter Smith who was shanghaied and jumped overboard to escape being carried to sea, and that' s all the evidence I want that she does not think I am that identical Peter."

Thanks to the thoughtful reporter, who did not want Roy to be called home although he did want all the news the boy had it in his power to give him, the truth was never suspected, and after a short rest the young wheelmen turned their backs upon the towpath and the pugnacious youngsters who lived beside it, and struck out again, this time running through a fine farming country, with just enough timber along the road to break the monotony of the scenery, and afford them shade as often as they felt inclined to take a breathing spell. They were not the only cyclists on the road, as they found before they had left Bloomingdale a dozen miles behind. They were wheeling along in Indian file at a moderate pace, when Joe Wayring, who brought up the rear, was surprised to hear a voice close to him say:

"If you have a mind to listen to it, I believe I can give you young gentlemen a word of