"Are you sure it was Sobber?" demanded Dick.
"No, I am not dead certain—but the fellow looked a good deal like Tad."
"Must have been a mistake," was Tom's comment. "What would he be doing around Ithaca?"
"Well, he's got to stay somewhere, Tom."
"But he wouldn't stay so close to Cedarville—he'd probably go to some big city," put in Dick.
As the train rushed on the Rover boys talked the matter over, but could make nothing out of it.
"I suppose he is in hiding waiting to see if Nick Pell will recover," said Dick. "He knows that if Nick doesn't get over his trouble he'll be liable to prosecution."
At the station at Oak Run the boys found their father awaiting them with the big family sleigh. All piled in, and over the crisp snow they started for Valley Brook farm.
"I need not ask how you are feeling," said Anderson Rover. "Every one of you looks the picture of health."
"I never felt better in my life," declared Dick, and Tom and Sam said the same.
"Has Uncle Randolph heard anything more of his traction company bonds?" asked Tom, as they drove along.
"Not a word more," answered his father. "It is a great loss to him."
