CHAPTER XXI.
BOB AND JACK THINK THEY HAVE A CLUE.
The First National Bank of Skowhegan, of which Mr. Golden waspresident, is situated on Water street. Behind it runs the Kennebecriver through a rock gorge, nearly fifty feet deep. At the time of ourstory, the bank building was new, having been built only the yearbefore. It was thoroughly modern in every respect, and contained whatwas supposed to be a burglar-proof vault.
The boys soon distanced the car and in exactly eleven minutes from thetime they started were in front of the bank. They found a crowd ofseveral hundred people collected in the street, for such a thing as abank robbery in Skowhegan had never been known, and there was greatexcitement. Hurriedly, they pushed the wheels into a livery stablenearby, which was run by a friend of theirs, and then pushing theirway through the crowd, managed to reach the sidewalk, in front of thebank, but here the people were so closely packed, that they wereforced to stop.
"Guess we'll have to wait for dad," panted Jack, after a vigorousshove had failed to make an opening.
"Gee, but this is worse than a football game," declared Bob, "buthere's dad now," as a big policeman pushed his way through the crowdshouting:
"Stand back now and let Mr. Golden through."
The mass of people slowly gave way, and Mr. Golden, followed closelyby Bob and Jack, who had grabbed hold of his coat tails as he pushedhis way past, finally succeeded in reaching the steps of the bank. Thedoor was at once opened by Mr. Riggs, the old cashier, and Mr. Goldenand Uncle Ben, who was with them, entered closely followed by the twoboys.
"Oh, to think that I should live to see this day!" moaned the cashier,as he closed and locked the door behind them.
"How did they get in?" was Mr. Golden's first question.
The cashier pointed to the door and a glance was sufficient todisclose the means of entrance. Two doors, separated by a smallvestibule, led into the bank. The outer door was fitted with a heavyplate glass window, but the inner one was of solid oak. This had beencut through by means of a bit, and a hole about twenty inches indiameter sawed out. A similar opening had been made in the glass ofthe outer door, a circular piece having been cut out, evidently with adiamond, and then, cemented back in again so cleverly, that it was notnoticeable except on close inspection.
Going to the vault at the rear of the bank, they found an irregularhole, nearly sixteen inches in diameter, through the solid steel door.The edges of this hole had a fused appearance, and Mr. Golden at oncesaid:
"Undoubtedly the work of experts, and they must have used anoxy-acteylene blowpipe flame to cut through that door."
Bob had been doing some pretty deep thinking, and now he caught holdof his father's sleeve and said:
"Of course, I may be a way off, but I believe that those fellows whokidnapped me are the ones who did this job."
"I think so, too," broke in Jack, "We know that they are criminals andwhat were they doing round here if they weren't up to some such job?You see," he continued, as his father was about to speak, "they didn'tcome here after those cells, because they didn't know anything aboutthem till they saw the boat the day of the race. I believe theyintended to rob the bank in the first place and then they saw our boatand thought that if they could get hold of our secret, it would paythem better than this job. That's the way I've got it doped out."
"And I believe Jack's right, dad," broke in Bob. "Something I heardthat man Reed say just after they got me in the car that night hasjust come to me. I didn't think much of it at the time; it has neveroccurred to me till just now."
"What was it?" eagerly asked Mr. Golden.
"Why, we had gone but a little ways when I heard Reed say, in a lowvoice. 'How about that other job, Bill?' and King replied angrily,'Shut up, you fool!' Then as Reed started to say something, hewhispered, 'That can wait awhile; it won't spoil.'"
"I really believe the boys are right," declared Uncle Ben. "There islittle doubt in my mind that when you get those two men you will havethe robbers of this bank."
"I'll tell you what," broke in Bob, "if those two fellows did it, I'llbet a cent they'll go straight to the place where they took me, thatwe found yesterday. You see they think no one knows about it and thatthey will be safe there."
"Then we'd better get some officers and get after them as quickly aspossible," declared Uncle Ben.
"I guess we might as well try it," assented Mr. Golden, "seeing it'sthe only clue we have. Mr. Riggs, see if Mr. Switzer is out there andif he is, have him come in, will you?"
The cashier disappeared, but was back almost immediately, followed bya powerfully built man about forty years old, the chief of police ofSkowhegan.
"Hello, Switzer, glad you were at hand," cried Mr. Golden.
"Just got here," panted the officer, who appeared nearly out ofbreath. "I went over to Smithfield fishing early this morning anddidn't know about it till I got there, and then I hustled back as fastas I could."
It may be well to explain here, that Skowhegan does not have a regularpolice force who give all their time to it. Mr. Switzer, besides beingchief, was a butcher, and the rest of the force, consisting of fivemen, held different positions in the town.
Mr. Golden quickly pointed out what has been described, and then toldhim of Bob's suspicion.
"Just the thing to do," he declared. "George and Fred are outside andI'll get them and we'll start at once."
"We'll go in my car," said Mr. Golden. "I guess it's as fast as any intown, and will carry six of us all right, and the boys can go on theirwheels, can't you, Bob?"
"Sure thing," the both replied.
"All right then, that's settled. Now let's get off as soon aspossible. My car is right over there on the corner."
They went out and Mr. Golden and Uncle Ben at once made their way tothe car, while Mr. Switzer searched through the crowd for hisofficers. Bob and Jack hurried to where they had left their wheels andwere back at the corner in almost no time, where they were soon joinedby the three officers.
"Now, where to?" asked the chief, as he took his seat by the driver.
"Norridgewock first," answered Bob, as he jumped into his saddle, andhe added, as he turned on the power, "here's where we break all thespeed laws ever made."
"You boys keep within sight of us," shouted Mr. Golden, as they dashedacross the bridge.
In spite of the bad road, they reached Norridgewock in nineteenminutes. On the way, Mr. Golden told Uncle Ben and the officers thatRiggs had said that nearly one hundred thousand dollars in cash andnegotiable securities had been taken.
They made no stop at Norridgewock, but at once took the road leadingto Oakland. Here the going was much better and in a little less thanhalf an hour after leaving Norridgewock, they were within a mile ofthe woods road, which led to the big house. The boys were about aquarter of a mile ahead of the car and stopped here to wait for therest of the party.
"Are we 'most there?" asked Mr. Golden, as the car came up to them andstopped.
"Yes, it's only about a mile from here, and I thought we'd better stopbefore we got any nearer, and make our plans," explained Bob.
"My idea," said Mr. Switzer, "is to leave the car by the side of themain road and go the rest of the way on foot. You see," he explained,"if we took it too close they would hear it and skip, that is,providing they're there."
All agreed that this was the best plan.
"Now, Bob," asked the chief, "how far from the main road is thathouse?"
"I should say a little more than a quarter of a mile."
"And how large is the clearing round it?"
"At the back the trees grow up close to the house, but in front thereis a clearing of perhaps half an acre."
"Then, three of us had better get round to the back of the house,while the rest approach it from the front. George, you and Bob and Mr.Golden," indicating Uncle Ben, "can circle round and get behind. Therest of us will give you plenty of time to get there and then we'll goup to the house and demand admittance."
To
this plan all agreed, and they started again, the boys keeping justin front of the car. They had gone about a mile, when Bob held up hishand for them to stop.
"See that big elm just ahead there?" he asked, pointing with hisfinger. "Well, the road is about ten feet the other side of thattree."
But just then something happened which caused a complete change intheir plans.