ght. He fired two shots; got away with some jewelry
and about seven hundred dollars. The chauffeur thought he was black but
he wasn't sure; didn't see his face."

"He--eh--I hope you catch him," our young hero said.

He didn't seem to be quite as anxious to do the catching as he had been
about a minute before.

CHAPTER XIII

BANDITS AND THINGS

I said, "Grab hold of this rope, Detective Harris, if you want to get
across the river."

So that's the way we got across, going straight west, even while the
tide was running out good and strong. Mr. Pinchem rowed over with one
end of the rope, and the tide carried him about fifty yards downstream
before he made the other shore. Then he got out and dragged the boat
back upstream and tied the rope to the tree just where we told him to.

We had to make two trips across, but it was easy keeping our course
because all we had to do was to keep hold of the rope and work the boat
along with our hands.

I guess those men didn't think we could be much help to them; anyway
they didn't hire Pee-wee to foil the bandit the way men do in stories.
I'd like to see that kid capturing a bandit. Judging by the way he
treats ice cream cones there wouldn't be much left of the bandit. I'm
not crazy about bandits, anyway, but some fellows are. Anyway, I'd like
a blue one better than a black one because that's my patrol color.

But, anyway, this is the way those men thought it was. Northvale is
about three or four miles above Bridgeboro. It's right on the river and
there's a boat club up there. So when they found that boat in the
marshes down near Bridgeboro I guess they thought that fellow had left
the boat and maybe was hiding somewhere around there. Because, anyway,
it would be pretty hard for him to get through the marshes to the
railroad track, that's sure.

Now after those men left us they started rowing back up the river and
they didn't get along very fast on account of the tide being against
them. Gee whiz, I'd kind of like to be a detective if I was a man, but I
wouldn't want to be a truant officer.

So now our bee-line hike was about half over and we had traveled in a
pretty straight line. I'm not saying that we didn't go even a yard to
the right or left, because, gee, that would be impossible, but I bet we
went in a pretty straight line. We didn't vary our course any just to
save trouble, that's sure.

Now from the river there is open country till you get to Little Val