late hour in the evening, George and Ralph
did arrive.

"I knew you would come back to-night," said Bob, as he rushed out to
meet the friends whom he had not treated exactly as it would seem
friendship demanded, "for I knew, if you learned anything at all, you
would find it necessary to come back this way."

"Why, what do you know?" asked George, quickly.

"When I tell you that I knew your team had been stolen even before you
did, you must admit that I know something about it," replied Bob,
feeling fully how important he was just then.

"Don't be long-winded now, Bob," said George, sharply; "for you know how
anxious I am."

"I'll tell you all I know, and I think I may be able to make amends for
the trick we played upon you in using your team the other night, unless
you think it was because of that that you had your horses where they
could be stolen."

"Tell me what you have heard of my team!" exclaimed George, impatiently.

"Jack Roberts told me, this afternoon, that he saw two fellows in your
carriage about midnight, and that they stopped all night, or at least
the remainder of it, in the woods just above our camp. I went up there
with him about five o'clock, and it didn't seem as if they could have
been gone more than an hour before we got there."

"Did you find out which way they went?"

"As near as could be told by the tracks, they kept straight on toward
Babcock."

"That's where they said they were going," said Ralph, excitedly,
delighted at this confirmation of the policeman's story.

"From the looks of the place where they stayed last night, I should say
that they don't know very much about camping out," continued Bob. "They
just hitched the horses to a tree, and laid down on the ground, with a
few boughs under them, instead of putting up a shelter, which wouldn't
have taken ten minutes. I found pieces of newspaper, in which had been
food, scattered around. So I fancy their arrangements for the journey
were made very hurriedly and incompletely. I don't think they had hay
or grain for the horses, for I couldn't find any signs of either."

It was evident that Bob had examined the ground thoroughly in
expectation of a chase, and as he gave what was really valuable
information, gathered simply from a desire to aid his friend, George was
perfectly willing to forgive him for any and everything he had ever done
against him.

"Then we won't stop here to-night," said the owner of the stolen horses,
hurri