"They'll leave now—if they think we are coming," answered Sam.
"Let us keep quiet," put in Tom. "If they hear us talking they will surely skip out."
After that but little was said. Foot by foot they drew closer to the delapidated structure, until it loomed up dimly before them. Then Dick motioned for the others to halt.
With bated breath the boys listened. At first they heard little but the rushing of the water over the rocks. Then came a sudden cracking of a rotten floor board, followed by an exclamation.
"Confound the luck! I've put my foot through the floor again," growled a man's voice. "Shelley, why don't you light the lantern? Do you want me to break my neck?"
"If I light the lantern the Rovers may come here," was the answer from the man called Shelley.
"Oh, they went down the river—I saw them."
"They may have turned in nearby."
Some more words followed, but spoken so low that the boys could not understand them. They heard a faint creaking of the flooring of the old mill, but that was all.
"They are there, that's certain," whispered
