you found it here?"

"Yes, half on the bank and half in the water."

"How did it get there?"

"Thrown from the bridge by the robbers. They did not want to be found
with it on them I suppose. Probably they meant to return for it at some
convenient time."

"You have examined the contents?"

"Not all of them."

"What shall we do with it, Jack?"

"Take it up to the doctor. Later we can take it to the bank. I don't
want to go there now, looking as I do."

"Well, you don't look just the thing to call on a bank president,"
laughed Dick, "but I am glad you are alive. Are you hurt any? No bones
broken, no internal injuries, nothing the matter with you?"

"I don't think there is, Dick. I do feel a bit sore and bruised but I
don't think there is anything serious the matter. A good hot bath will
fix me up all right, I think."

"Come on then and get that bag up to the Academy. Here, don't you lift
it. I can do it better. Can you run the car up, do you think?"

"Yes. Did you raise an alarm about my having fallen down the bank?"

"No. Herring said he would speak to the doctor. I came right away."

"All right. Let them think for the present that I did fall down."

"Very good, but as soon as I am certain which one of those fellows it
was that pushed you down I will make it warm for him."

"I don't believe you ever will know, Dick."

CHAPTER IX

ANOTHER OF JACK'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The two boys went up the hill to the Academy with the bag which one of
them had found in the creek and had an interview with Dr. Wise.

The doctor looked his name in some respects and in others he did not.

He was a tall, spare man, dressing habitually in solemn black and a huge
white choker, his face being clean shaven and showing the firmness of
his chin and his square, well-set jaws.

He was very bald, however, and the big round spectacles which he always
wore gave an owlish aspect to his face, the glasses being set in a heavy
black frame which made his eyes look even deeper than they naturally
were.

However, the doctor was of a most kindly nature and all the boys under
his charge, with a few notable exceptions, were greatly attached to him
and treated him with admiration as well as respect.

He listened attentively to Jack's story of falling down the ravine and
finding the rubber bag and then examined the latter, saying:

"H'm, ha! yes, this is a most important discovery. I am not privileged
to examine it closely, that