All three of them knew at once that the
man who had spoken was the stranger who had acted so queerly in the
Cresville freight office. If they had any doubts of it they were
dispelled a moment later when the doorman called out:
"All aboard for the western express!"
As the man and his companion arose, the boys saw he was the same
individual who had been so particular about the boxes of stuff he
shipped to San Francisco.
Before the three chums could make any comment the man and his
companion were lost in the crowd that thronged to the door.
"Come, boys," said the professor, closing his book. "That's our
train."
CHAPTER VII
A BAD BREAK
"THAT was queer, wasn't it?" said Jerry to his chums when they were
seated in the train, moving swiftly toward the great west. "I wonder
what he meant, and what he was doing out here?"
"And I guess you can keep on wondering, for all the good it will do,"
commented Bob. "I couldn't make anything out of what they said, except
that some ship might be lost. That's common enough."
"I wonder what that stuff was that he shipped from the freight
office?" mused Jerry.
"Rat poison, maybe," replied Ned with a laugh. "I've heard there are
lots of rats on ships, and maybe he has a patent stuff for getting rid
of 'em."
"It might be," agreed Jerry. "Well, as Bob says, there's no use
wondering. Say, but this is pretty nice scenery," and he pointed to
the view from the window, as they were passing along the shores of a
lake.
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