Dangler!" yelled Tom, suddenly. "There he goes, with a
big bundle over his shoulder!" And he pointed to the rear of the log
cabin. A man was just disappearing behind a fringe of brushwood. The
bundle he carried appeared to be tied up in a horse blanket. He was
running as hard as he could.

For a moment the boys did not know what to do. Then they ran to the
cabin and entered. It contained but one room, and this they soon
discovered was deserted. In the chimney a fire was smouldering, and the
remains of a meal lay scattered over a box that did duty as a table.

"This must have been Dangler's hangout," was Dick's comment. "He must
have come back for his things."

"Yes, and this explains why the queer letter box was stationed back
there," said Tom.

"Aren't you going to try to catch him?" asked Sam, impatiently.

"To be sure," answered Dick, and rushed out, and the others after him.

"Keep back there!" they heard Dangler cry, as they appeared on the trail
back of the log cabin. "Keep back, or it will be the worse for you!"

"Stop!" called Dick. "You might as well give up Dangler; you are bound
to be caught some time."

"Not much! I am armed and I warn you to keep back," answered the freight
thief, and then a bend of the trail hid him from view.

"Do you think he'd dare to shoot?" asked Tom.

"There is no telling what a desperate man will do," replied Dick. "We
had better be cautious."

After that they advanced with care. Presently the trail came out on a
mountain road and this passed over some rocks and crossed two other
roads. They saw no more of Dangler, and the footprints had disappeared.

"He has slipped us," said Tom, coming to a halt and resting on a fallen
tree. "Hang the luck anyway!"

"He came back to the cabin for his things," mused Sam. "I guess he is
going to leave the neighborhood, and maybe for good."

Chagrined over their failure to catch the freight thief, the boys looked
around that neighborhood for awhile and then retraced their steps to the
log cabin. Here they found several old articles of wearing apparel and a
few newspapers.

"Here is an envelope," said Sam, fishing the object out from behind the
box that had done duty as a table. "It is addressed to William Dangler.
Must have been some letter he got."

"Anything in it?"

"No."

"What is the postmark?"

"It is almost blurred out," said Sam. He took the envelope to the light.
"Well, I declare! Ithaca!"

"Ithaca!" cried Tom.