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264 and Nellie. They felt that the girls must be suffering intensely even though Mrs. Sobber was with them.

"No use of taking the lantern, we can easily find the way," said Dick. "I'd rather have the stick handy, and my pistol."

Leaving the chauffeur grumbling roundly, the three Rover boys hurried along the woodland trail. It made half a dozen turns, the last around a spring of pure cold water, which the tired-out lads could not resist. Each got a good drink and felt much refreshed. All were too excited to notice their hunger, even though they had not tasted a mouthful of food since the noon lunch.

"I see the house!" whispered Sam, presently, and pointed ahead, and his brothers nodded.

Set in a cleared space was an old stone mansion, two stories high, and with several wings. The porch was badly rotted, the chimney top gone, and the whole structure showed signs of decay. Around the place was what had once been a well-kept flower garden, now overrun with a tangle of dead flowers stalks and untrimmed rose bushes. Evidently no one had done any work around the place for several years.

"Just the kind of a place those chaps would pick out," whispered Dick to his brothers. "They never suspected anybody would trace 'em. I