"w-w-what was that?" stammered pepper. "i t-thought i heard a cry. t-t-there it is again," as a faint call came from the river.

the three boys were standing on the landing with colonel snow, still discussing the mysterious disappearance of gerald.

"t-that you, gerald?" shouted pepper.

"where are you?" cried donald; but, without waiting for a reply, he threw off his coat and shoes and plunged into the river, swimming in the direction from which the cry had come,

"he's all right!" came the reassuring cry from donald a little later. "i have got him," and shortly afterwards reappeared paddling a boat in which was the bewildered gerald, who was helped onto the landing by the colonel and the others.

"h-h-how did you g-get into the boat, gerald?" asked pepper when gerald had somewhat recovered from the effects of his experience. "did you think it was a good time to take a row?"

"it looks that way," replied gerald. "but when rand called to me to stop them i ran out to try and head them off, but something gave me a rap on the head and the next thing i knew i found myself lying in that boat. say, i feel as if i had a head like a pumpkin."

"i s-should think it would feel more like a s-squash," commented pepper.

"that is going altogether too far," asserted the colonel indignantly. "it might have had a very serious ending. i think that there is a bad quarter-of-an-hour in store for that rae boy if i can get hold of him in the morning."

as there was no likelihood that monkey rae would return to renew his attempt to injure the boat the house was locked and the boys went back to the town discussing, as they went, the events of the evening. the colonel was very indignant.

when they came near to the top of the hill they were met by jack, who was running at full speed down the road.

"hello!" called rand when he came near. "where are you going in such a hurry?"

"hello," returned jack, slowing up and joining the others. "where have you been? i have been looking all over for you."

"down to the boathouse," replied rand.

"down to the boathouse!" exclaimed jack. "what took you down there tonight?"

"why, we heard that monkey was g-going to s-smash the boat," answered pepper.

"monkey!" cried jack. "i wish i had been there----"

"wouldn't have done you any good," said donald. "he was too quick for us."

"was any one with him?" asked jack.

"only sam tompkins."

"ah!" returned jack. "what did i tell you?"

"don't know," replied pepper; "you tell us so many things that we can't remember them all. what did you tell us this time?"

"about monkey rae and sam tompkins, and the queer coins you picked up in the road that day."

"i believe you did say something about monkey and the coins," admitted donald, "but i no paid much attention to it."

"but what has that got to do with the present excitement?" asked rand.

"listen to this," exclaimed jack, stopping under an electric light to read a circular that he drew from his pocket.

"three hundred dollars reward. escaped from jail. three hundred dollars will be paid for the arrest and detention of one james rae, alias 'limpy,' who escaped from the jail at melton on june fifth. said rae is about forty years old, stoutly built, and five feet eight inches in height. has smooth face, red hair, and walks with a limp. james robinson, sheriff."

"w-w-why, t-t-that must be m-m-monkey rae's father," stammered pepper when jack had finished reading. "i knew he was away somewhere, but i didn't know he was in prison."

"shure, there's lots of things ye don't know, me darlint," interjected gerald.

"and he is the man who was with monkey on the river," added rand.

"and the man that was in the boat the other day," put in dick.

"i hope they catch him!" said pepper vindictively.

"go for him, pepper," encouraged gerald.

"and that is what monkey stole the fish for," continued pepper.

"of course it was," replied jack. "didn't i tell you there was something back of this monkey business?"

"but i no see it yet," remarked donald.

"of course you don't," said jack. "you want it explained with a diagram. it was rae who robbed judge taylor's office, and monkey and sam tompkins helped him. he was hiding in the woods when we saw him."

"but what has that got to do with the coins?" demanded donald.

"why, they stole them out of the judge's office and lost them where rand and pepper found them. i've been studying this thing out ever since the night we were in the judge's office. you see, there was suspicion of some of us and i wanted to clear it off. it's all as clear as day now."

"whin the fog's so thick ye c'ud cut it with a knife," put in gerald. "give us a diagram av it."

"why, the robbery was done by rae and some of his pals," explained jack. "they sent monkey up between the buildings and he opened the window and got in and then opened the doors for the others. when they got through all they had to do was to walk out, and monkey closed and fastened the doors after them and went down the same way as he got in."

"but how do you know that rae did it?" asked rand.

"by putting two and two together," replied jack. "i knew that the coins you found were like some that had been stolen. monkey rae and sam went over the road just before you found them. they had not been lying there long, or they would have been covered up in the dirt, or some one else would have found them."

"'tis no way impossible," admitted donald.

"then some of the tools they used had been taken from wilson's blacksmith shop, and you know dick said that monkey and sam used to come in there almost every day, so that it was quite probable that they took them; that's number two."

"go on," urged rand. "it is growing interesting."

"well, there isn't much more; but i saw, from this circular, that rae had escaped from prison, so i concluded that the man we saw in the boat was rae, and i put the two and two together and worked it out that it was he who robbed the judge's office."

"what was he after?" asked pepper.

"i don't know exactly," replied jack; "but it was papers of some kind."

"well, it does look as if you were right," conceded donald; "but you haven't got any proof."

"no," admitted jack; "but i have given the officer the tip, and told him about the shack in the woods where pepper saw rae. they are going to make a raid on it tomorrow, and perhaps they will find some of the stolen property in their possession; then we have the impression of a hand on this paper, and we can get one of monkey's hands and see if they aren't the same."

"faith, hunting is wan thing and finding's anither," commented gerald.

which proved to be quite true in this case, for when the officers reached the cabin in the woods they found it deserted and dismantled. the occupants had evidently taken alarm and disappeared, leaving no trace, although the boys were destined to meet them again under decidedly unpleasant circumstances.