ut five miles up the
lake, and about two miles in on the other side. There's a sort of
farm up there. A guy by the name of Brown lives up there alone.
He's got a small airplane there too.

"He's a nice sort of guy but he's funny, kind of, like a man who
has a secret, if you know what I mean. When I heard Mr. Matthews
tell what a fast motor the man had who got away from him, I kinda
thought it might be this Brown, 'cause he's got a fast motor, one
of the fastest on the lake.

"So I been watchin', Mr. Hale. When I seen him up in the plane, I
went over there. He's got a collie dog, but no dog ever bites me,
Mr. Hale, they all make friends with me and I like 'em too. I went
up there late this evenin' meanin' last night, when you told me
you wouldn't need me any more.

"The plane was gone and the collie was in the yard. But I made
friends with the dog. The house was locked up. I clumb up the
porch and there in an upstairs room I seen Tommy asleep. I was
gonna take him and bring him home, but just then I heard the
plane, or I thought I did.

"I hid in the woods and it wasn't the plane at all, I was
mistaken. Gee, just think of it, Mr. Hale, I coulda got the kid
all by myself, then I thought I better come for you. Mebbe while I
was takin' the kid, this Brown might come and what could I do
alone. And the kid might be hurt, see?"

A lump rose in Jimmy's throat. He was rather unnerved from the
recent ordeal. He noticed that Harry did not once mention the
possible danger to himself. The phrase rang in his mind: "And the
kid might be hurt, see?"

Harry ran the small boat into a tiny cove where it might be
hidden, both from the water and from the shore. For several
hundred feet from the shore there was a clear, well-defined path
running nearly straight westward through the woods.

After a short distance Harry swung off from this path; then he
took several turns. He seemed to know the way. At the end of a
half hour's walk, Jimmy judged they had gone about two miles.
Harry put his hand on Hale's arm as a signal for caution.

Ahead of Jimmy lay a large, well-tilled and well-cared for farm.
There was the loud, ringing, penetrating bark of a collie, then
all was silence. Harry uttered an exclamation of disappointment.
He pointed and Jimmy understood. About two hundred yards away at
one end of a large level field a small plane was plainly visible
in its hangar. Brown, the owner of the farm, was evidently home.

Jimmy debated