Over an hour was spent searching but without success, and there was no sign of the fugitive’s trail beyond the stream. Finally the group returned to the creek bank where Ames had left the first boot.
“Hey! It’s gone!” Phil Radnor yelled.
The boot was nowhere in sight! A frantic hunt was made under the water in case the boot had fallen into the stream. But no one found it.
“What a boner I pulled!” Ames was furious at himself. “I should have known better than to leave it unguarded!”
“Never mind, Harlan!” Tom exploded, as a sudden idea struck him. “This means the guilty
50 MEGASCOPE SPACE PROBER
person thought it was safe to come back for the boot, or else he’s been trailing us, and is nearby. Let’s find him!”
The four went splashing across the creek, with Tom in the lead. They raced back along the beaten path to the road, scanning the woods to right and left.
Suddenly they heard the distant noise of a car starting and speeding awayl “Too late!” Tom exclaimed.
Nevertheless, he and his companions sprinted forward to try catching the license number. But by the time they cleared the screen of trees and burst onto the road, the car had disappeared from view. Panting, the searchers looked at one another for a moment, too angry and breathless to speak. Then Radnor growled, “Tough break!”
Tom said thoughtfully, “We had no way of knowing my enemy was watching.
At least we’ve found out he is around and we have that sample of the lint out of his boot.”
“I wish I knew what his game is,” Ames brooded. “Well, hereafter, skipper, we’ll take no chances. I’ll have someone shadow anyone who shadows you!”
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119