leter and I wil do all I can to help you pervided you
wil help me on that bussines I meantioned to you. I know we both
can make money and hardly anny risks. Beter not come to the office
but meet me at Dunns on the River.

"Yours afectenately,
"DR. H. MONTGOMERY."

"Why, this letter was written by that Doctor Hooker Montgomery, the man
whose silk hat we knocked off!" cried Dave.

"His education seems to be extremely limited," observed Phil. "He'd
never stand at the top of the spelling class, would he?"

"I was asking about him, and he's a regular fakir," said Roger. "He
isn't a doctor at all, although he calls himself one. He puts up a
number of medicines and calls them 'Montgomery's Wonderful Cures.' I was
told that he used to do quite a business among the ignorant country
folks, but lately hardly anybody patronizes him."

"And that is why he is willing to aid Jasniff in some scheme, I
suppose," said Phil. "I'll wager it is something underhanded. When are
they to meet?"

"It doesn't say," answered Dave. "But the postmark is a week old, so I
presume the meeting is a thing of the past. I guess I'll not keep the
letter," he concluded, and cast it on the ground where he had found it.

Arriving at where the rowboat had been tied up, the three chums looked
around carefully, and soon saw footprints leading to a little cove,
shaded by tall elderberry bushes. Pushing some of the bushes aside, Dave
looked into the water and gave a cry:

"Here she is, fellows!"

"Have you really found the boat, Dave?" questioned Phil.

"Yes. She's at the bottom of the cove. They piled her full of stones and
sunk her. They must have had quite a job doing it."

"And here are the oars!" exclaimed Roger, dragging them from the bushes.
"Say, it's going to be cold work getting that boat into shape for use,"
he added, for the sun was going down and the air was keen.

"I'll do it, if you don't care to," answered Dave. "A cold plunge will
do me good."

"I'll help, if you say so?" volunteered Phil.

"Never mind, Phil; I think I can do it alone. No use in more than one
undressing."

The rowboat had been sunk in water three feet deep. Taking off most of
his clothing, and also his shoes and socks, Dave waded into the cove and
set to work taking the stones out of the craft. It was certainly cold,
and only the heavy labor served to keep his blood in circulation.

"They didn't pound a hole in her, did they?" asked the