dered following his friends'
assailants, then abandoned the idea. They could escape easily in the
woods.

"What happened?" Scotty demanded.

[Illustration: "_I'm curious. Who around here has a pram?_"]

Duke Barrows got out of the car, nursing his head.

"Two men jumped us when we started to get into the car," he answered
shakily. "One smacked me on the head with something hard and almost
knocked me out. If Jerry hadn't put up a good fight, they'd have had
us--although I don't know what for."

"Were they holdup men?" Rick asked quickly.

"They didn't wear signs," Duke answered grumpily. "But holdup men
usually say something, don't they? 'This is a stickup.' Or something
like that."

Jerry Webster examined bruised knuckles in the glare of the car head
lamps. "They didn't say anything," he added. "Not a word. When you
yelled, they broke off and ran into the woods."

Scotty scratched his head. "Mighty funny," he mused. "What could they
have wanted?"

Duke Barrows brushed dirt off his jacket. "They probably were
reporters from a Newark paper," he said caustically, "trying to find
out about the mysterious visitors on Spindrift."

It hit Rick then. "Duke," he exclaimed, "you look like Dr. Morrison!
I'll bet it was a case of mistaken identity!"

The editor looked at him keenly. "Could be," he agreed. "That means
you have reason to believe someone would be interested in harming Dr.
Morrison."

"I'm just assuming," Rick said hurriedly.

"Uh-hum." The editor grunted his disbelief. "And what should we do
about it?"

Rick looked at Scotty, who shrugged. The shrug said that probably
nothing could be done now, so far as Duke and Jerry were concerned,
but that the case was far from closed.

"Better notify Captain Douglas," Rick suggested. "I can't think of
anything else."

Jerry Webster flexed an arm that appeared to be aching. "Sure that
won't conflict with your security people?" he asked.

Rick assumed an air of wide-eyed innocence. "Now, Jerry! Who said
anything about security people? I just suggested you notify the State
Police. Who else would you notify when someone attacks you?"

Duke climbed into the car. "Come on, Jerry. We'll get no satisfaction
out of these two. Let's go rub liniment on our wounds, and then we'll
make a report to the State Police. Good night, lads. And I hope your
mystery bites you. Let me know if it does, so I can say 'I told you
so' in print."

The boys waved as Duke drove off, l