o no more
than fail, and they would have the consolation of knowing that they had
not quit.

He worked desperately, and soon the inner tube was as good as ever. He
tumbled the tools back into the box, mounted the machine, and as the
road was good, once past the sandy stretch, he let it out, fearing,
however, that at any moment it might go dry.

He had reached the outskirts of the village, when he saw Teddy hurrying
toward him with a can in his hand. He greeted his brother with a shout.
And it seemed to the boys that they had never heard sweeter music than
the splashing of the gasoline as it went down into the tank.

"I've had one bit of luck, anyway!" exclaimed Teddy, once more in his
normal high spirits. "I asked if they had seen the auto go through, and
they showed me where it had turned off to the right. We'll get them
yet."

"That's the way to talk!" responded his brother. "We'll follow the old
advice and be like the postage stamp. We'll stick until we get there."

They took the road to the right that had been pointed out, and let the
motorcycle out at full speed. They soon made up for lost time, and their
hearts exulted when at last they saw before them the automobile they
were looking for. They slowed down at once, keeping an easy distance in
the rear.

On they went through several villages, until at last the automobile
stopped at a low roadhouse on the outskirts of the town of Saxby. The
men got out and went into the house.

Still without any definite plan, the boys brought the motorcycle to a
stop at the same place.

There was a barroom in front, and a sign announced that soda and soft
drinks were for sale.

They pulled their caps down over their faces, went in and ordered
sarsaparilla. They took their seats at a small table in the rear and
sipped it slowly, glancing carelessly from time to time at the two men
who were sitting nearby with a whisky bottle between them.

And as they looked, the suspicion that these were the tramps they had
seen in Sam Perkins' barn became a certainty. There was the tall man
with the scar on his temple showing clearly; and the short, stout man
with him was without doubt his former companion. They were dressed more
decently than before, evidently as the result of their stealings, but
there had been no improvement in their coarse and evil faces.

They seemed in no hurry, and it was a pretty safe guess that they would
tarry where they were until they had emptied the bott