"It's too late now. The Peacock has gotten under way long ago."
"Well, let us try to get on the track of the two boys. Perhaps we can follow them up from the cave. If all of the footsteps point this way we'll know the captain has been deceiving us."
Again the Baxters moved on, and so did Dick and Peterson. The way was rough and made Dan grumble a good deal.
"We ought to have kept this game all in our own hands from the start," said the former bully of Putnam Hall. "We made a rank mistake to take Captain Langless into our confidence."
"I won't care if only we make Anderson Rover pony up that money," answered the father. "I'm afraid the mine scheme will have to fall through."
"What did you strike him for in cash?"
"Ten thousand dollars."
"You ought to have made it fifty."
"I wanted to get ten first and double that afterward. If I struck him too high first I was afraid he wouldn't try to meet me, but put the detectives on the track without delay."
