Part 20 (2/2)
”It was a wreck to start with,” said Burt.
The boys looked over the truck and found it undamaged. Meanwhile, Nancy searched the abandoned station on a hunch Bob Snell might be imprisoned there. She found only a broken cabinet in the ticket agent's office and a 1929 train schedule.
”It has stopped raining,” said Bess.
”Then let's go!” Burt urged.
The girls found clean rags under the truck seat and wiped off the wet hay in the back. Then they all climbed in and Ned backed out of the broken wall. He drove along the gra.s.s-covered railroad tracks until he came to a gravel road leading back to the bluff.
Before long, Nancy recognized where they were. Straight ahead was the first hollow oak with the lead plate on it containing the name Pere Franois, and the date, followed by an arrow. It was noon by the time they reached the area where the second tree was located. But it was on the other side of a deep creek.
”I guess we came out of our way,” Nancy remarked.
”I'm starved!” said Bess. ”Let's sit down here by this nice shady stream and have our lunch.”
”Sounds good to me,” Dave spoke up.
The three couples climbed out of the old truck and walked toward the water to wash their hands. Burt was the first to finish. As he turned back toward the truck he saw two little boys peering into the cab. Thinking they might know the best spot to drive across the stream, he hurried toward them. Instead of waiting for Burt, the two ran away as fast as they could.
”I guess they're shy of strangers,” he thought with a smile, and waited for the others to join him.
Nancy, first to get there, reached into the cab for the box of food. The string which had been tied around it was gone. Quickly she took off the lid and looked inside.
”Oh no! It can't be!” she exclaimed.
CHAPTER XV.
Strange Row of Stones
AT Nancy's outcry Bess looked into the box. She gave a little shriek. ”What! No food?”
”Those little boys I saw running away,” Burt remarked, ”must have taken everything.” He dashed off in the direction the children had taken.
Ned and Dave followed, while Bess sat down on the ground, disconsolate.
”Oh, don't be silly!” George chided her cousin. ”It wouldn't hurt you to go without a meal.”
”You're a good one to talk,” Bess replied. ”You eat all you want and stay slim. I can't help it if I get hungry.”
It seemed like a long time before the boys returned. Ned was holding a package of sandwiches which the little boys had dropped. Burt and Dave had their hands filled with luscious raspberries. Streamers of watercress were trailing from their pockets.
”I see you retrieved some of our lunch,” said Bess. ”Did you catch those little monkeys?”
”No. They had too much of a head start, but if we ration this food, we won't starve.”
Dave grinned. ”I feel as if I'm on Operation Survival.”
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