the boys could run so could the freight robber, and he made the best possible use of his legs until he gained a side trail. Then he darted into this, and when the Rover boys came up he had disappeared.
"Where is he?" panted Sam.
"He took to this path, but he isn't in sight," answered Dick. He was almost winded himself.
"Come on, he must be somewhere around," put in Tom, and ran down the path several hundred feet. Then he tripped over a fallen log and went headlong in the bushes and wet grass. He got up looking tired out and cross.
"We've missed him," announced Dick, rather dismally. "It's a pity, too. He deserves to be put under arrest."
"I think we had better get home and warn Uncle Randolph," returned Sam. "If we don't there is no telling what that fellow Merrick and that Pike may do."
