. "The more I think uv it, the more signs uv
foul weather I see. Good-by, my lad, and good luck. Will yer be out
ter see me soon? The bluefish are running fine."

"We may be out this afternoon, captain," responded Rob. "I am curious
myself to see if any mischief has been done on your island. If there
has been," he added earnestly, "you can count on the Eagle Patrol to
help you out."

"Thanks, my boy!" exclaimed the old man, who was bending over his
gasoline tank. "Hullo!" he shouted suddenly. "I wasn't crazy! This
boat was took out last night. See here!"

He held up the gasoline measuring stick which he had grabbed up and
plunged into the tank. The instrument was almost dry. The receptacle
for fuel was nearly empty.

"And I filled her before I started out!" thundered the captain.
"Whoever took my boat must have run her a long ways."

Fresh fuel was soon obtained, and the captain, after more shouted
farewells, started for the island to try to obtain some clue to the
mysterious happenings of the night.

Rob, after watching him for a few moments, as he sped down the blue
waters of the sunlit inlet, turned away to return to his home, just
recollecting that, in their eagerness to search for the boat, both he
and the captain had entirely forgotten about breakfast. He was in the
middle of the meal, and eagerly explaining to his interested parents
the strange incidents of the missing boat and the decoy note, when
Merritt Crawford burst into the room unannounced.

"Oh, I beg your pardon!" he apologized, abashed. "I didn't know you
were at breakfast. But, Mr. Blake--Rob--something has happened that I
just had to come and tell you about at once."

"Good gracious! More mysteries," Mr. Blake was beginning in a jocular
way, when the serious look on the boy's face checked him. "What is it?
What has happened, Merritt?" he asked soberly, while Rob regarded the
spectacle of his usually placid corporal's excitement with round eyes.

"The uniforms are all gone!" burst out Merritt.

"What uniforms?"

"Ours--the Eagle Patrols'."

"What! Stolen?"

"That's right," hurried on Merritt. "I met old Mrs. Jones in a
terrible state of mind. You know, Mr. Blake, she's the old woman who
scrubs out the place in the morning. I asked what was the matter, and
she told me that when she went to the armory early to-day, she found
the lock forced and all the lockers broken open and the uniforms gone!"

"Have you seen the pla