"No. Uncle John is waiting for you. He is in the woodshed, trying on some old rubber boots. He says one ought to have rubber boots to go into the swamp with."
Dick hurried to the woodshed and there found that Mr. Laning had unearthed two pairs of boots, and he donned one pair while the farmer put on the other. A little later both got in the buggy and drove up the road they had traveled the night previous. Then they tied the horse to a tree, and followed the path leading to the edge of the swamp.
"Hullo, the hat is gone!" exclaimed Dick, as he came close to the black pool.
"Maybe it dropped to the ground," suggested John Laning.
Both looked around, but could see nothing of the missing head covering. Then Dick caught sight of a slip of paper pinned to the tree.
"Here is a message of some kind," he said, end read it. The message ran as follows:
"I reckon I fooled you this trip. I was up in the tree all the time. By the time you get this I shall be miles away. Ta ta until the next time."
"Humph!" muttered Dick. "What do you think of that?" And he passed the message to his companion.
