probably gain
in speed, if they waited for their own, more than they would lose in
time.

This decision was about what Bob had expected, and he continued his
work, which had not been delayed during George's absence, until it was
thought that they could remove the wheel.

It was a hard, and quite a long job; but it was accomplished finally,
and then, when the iron was nearly cold, a plentiful amount of oil was
applied; the other wheels were lubricated, and the boys were ready to
continue their journey again, having lost by this accident not more than
an hour's time.

"You are all right now," said the farmer, after he had positively
refused to take any payment for his own time or for the use of his
tools, "an' I reckon the waiting here won't make much of any difference
to you."

"It wouldn't have been of any account if we hadn't been chasing a pair
of horses of mine that were stolen at Sawyer. We were close behind them,
and should have overtaken them by this time if it hadn't been for this
delay."

"What is the color of your horses?" asked the man, evincing such a
sudden interest that it seemed certain he knew something about the
missing property.

"A pair of small, dark chestnut horses, in a box buggy, driven by two
young men," replied Bob, quickly, confident that they were about to hear
some good news, and answering all possible questions at once, in order
that they might not be delayed any longer than necessary.

"Then it is fortunate for you that you had trouble which made you stop
here, or else you would have gone on and missed them," replied the man,
speaking slowly, as if there was no possible reason why the boys should
hurry on in pursuit.

"When did you see them?" asked George, hurriedly. "Tell us at once, so
that we needn't lose any more time."

"There's no need for you to rush," drawled the man, much as if he
enjoyed keeping the boys in suspense, "for if you stay right where you
are, you will see them. They've got to come back this way, sure."

The boys looked around as if they expected to see the thieves pop out
from some hiding-place near by, and after waiting a moment to enjoy the
effect his words had produced, the farmer asked, as he pointed nearly
opposite the house to where a road branched off from the highway,
leading, apparently, into the woods:

"Do you see that road?" And then, as if realizing how useless such a
question was when the road was so well defined, he continued: "Wa-al, I
re