the office too?" inquired John.

"I didn't receive any strong urging to enter," laughed Fred, "so I
decided it was better for me to stay outside."

"How long were they in there?" inquired Grant.

"I suppose it was about half an hour, but it seemed a good deal longer."

"Who came out first?"

"The canal-man."

"Was he alone?"

"Yes."

"How long before any one else came out?"

"Five minutes anyway, perhaps ten."

"What did your friend do?"

"He went out of the bank and that's the last I saw of him."

"You don't know then whether he went to the hotel or the station, or
came down the river."

"I have told you just what I know and all I know. I can't do any more."

"So we're just as wise as we were when we began," laughed George. "We
don't know what has become of our bond nor where the man that wanted it
went. We don't even know whether or not it is in the bank yet."

"Don't begin on the list of things you don't know, George," said Fred
soberly. "It'll take too much time."

"It's a good thing to know that you don't know. Some people that don't
know, don't know that they don't know. Now, I know some things and
among the things I know, I know that I don't know some things that I
think I know."

The Go Ahead boys laughed as they all started toward the cottage to
prepare for dinner.

The following morning Fred and George were the first to dress and
together they made their way once more to the boat-house.

In a room above the slip, in which the graceful little motor-boat was
resting, Sam Hodge was found. He had arisen two hours before this time
and already had eaten his breakfast and was preparing for the duties of
the coming day.

It was because of Sam's own choice that the room he occupied had been
assigned him. And what a strange room it was. Sam had brought many of
his own belongings among which were various pictures of the human
anatomy, both external and internal. A life-size dummy stood in one
corner of the room, the expression on its face being almost human in
its dolefulness. In other parts of the room were legs, arms, feet and
hands in various stages of completion. Sam explained that his love for
the work which he did in the winter, when he was employed in the
factory on Broome Street, New York, was present with him throughout the
year.

"Yes, I like fooling around a boat in the summer time," he explained,
"but you can't do that when the ice is about two feet thick. And yet if
I go back to