tern put the light down and strode over to a clump of trees from which he presently emerged, carrying a pair of oars. He dumped them into the boat with a clatter, which aroused the wrath of his companion.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded fiercely. "Want to rouse up everybody from here to Bayport?"
"I forgot," the other answered apologetically.
"Don't forget again."
"There's nobody around, anyway."
"Don't be too sure."
He fitted the oars in the rowlocks quietly, and the pair pushed the boat out into the brook.
"What shall we do?" whispered Joe. "Tackle them?"
"Wait a minute."
Hardly were the words out of Frank's mouth before he heard a rustling in the bushes almost immediately behind him. He looked around, startled, and saw a shadowy figure flit among the bushes, then another and another. He was so astonished that he almost cried out. Where had these newcomers appeared from? Who were they?
The Hardy boys pressed close to the ground as the three figures passed so close by them that they could almost have reached out and touched them. Not a word was said. The three
