For a moment Ned stood staring at his brother as if he could not believe
the words he heard. He remained holding the dangling chain, to which,
only a short time before, his dead father's valuable gold watch had been
attached.
"Robbed! Robbed!" murmured Ned, blankly.
"Exactly," answered Frank. "Why, see, they twisted the end right off
your chain! That's a regular pickpocket's trick. And as for my
wallet--well, I ought to be kicked for letting them get away with it!"
"But who took it?" asked Ned.
"Those two men, of course. They were working together!"
"But they didn't know each other, Frank. Why, they were going to fight!"
"That was only their trick, Ned, to take our attention off what they
were doing to us. It is an old trick. I ought to have known it. But they
were good actors, and they got away with it. Oh, hang it all! How stupid
I've been!"
"Not any more than I was, Frank. But it doesn't seem possible that those
men were friends, after the way they talked to one another. They were
so--"
"Look!" suddenly exclaimed Frank. "Doesn't that look as if they were
friends?"
He pointed across Battery Park, where, walking rapidly toward the
station of the elevated, were the same two men who had so nearly,
apparently, come to blows in the aquarium. The men were walking along
close together.
"They don't seem very unfriendly now," said Frank, bitterly.
Ned set off on the run toward them.
"Where are you going?" asked Frank.
"After those fellows! They shan't get away with my watch and your money
without a fight."
"I'm with you!" cried Frank. "It's as much your money as mine, though. I
had it all together. Come on, we'll see if we can catch 'em, but they've
got the start of us."
The two clever pickpockets had indeed an advantage. But Frank and Ned
set off on the run, the younger lad crying loudly:
"Stop those fellows! Stop those men! They robbed us!"
His cry attracted considerable attention, and a crowd was soon following
our heroes, for it does not take even such an exciting cry as "Stop
thief!" to collect a throng in busy New York.
"Stop those fellows! Stop 'em!" yelled Ned.
"They've got our money!" added Frank.
By this time the thieves were aware of the commotion behind them. They
had evidently anticipated pursuit, for at the sound of their victims'
cries, and at the sight of the crowd that had gathered to help in the
chase, the two men separated.
Where one went Frank and Ned could not see, as a pillar of the elevated
structure hid him from sight. But the other ran up the stairway, and
Frank noticed, with despair, that a train was just pulling into the
station.
"He'll get away on that," thought Frank, "and the other will be lost in
the crowd."
And that was exactly what happened. When Frank and Ned, somewhat out of
breath, reached the elevated structure neither of the men was in sight.
But a policeman, attracted by the throng and the sight of the two
excited boys, ran over from where he was standing in front of a
steam-ship ticket office.
"What's up?" he demanded, sharply.
"Pickpockets," explained Frank briefly. "Two of 'em--they robbed my
brother of his watch, and took my pocketbook--"
"Any money in it?" snapped out the policeman, while the crowd pressed
around to hear what was going on.
"Sure--all we had," and Frank spoke a little bitterly.
"Where did it happen?"
"In the aquarium. The men ran over here. One went up to take the train.
Maybe we can catch him."
"Maybe," agreed the officer. "We'll have a try. Come on--sprint!"
He himself led the way up the elevated stairs, followed by Frank, Ned
and some curious ones.
But the train had pulled out, and save for the ticket-chopper there was
no one on the platform.
"Do you see him?" demanded the officer, rather needlessly.
"No," answered Frank. "He's gone all right. And I guess there's no use
chasing after the other one."
"Give me a description of them," suggested the policeman, "and I'll
report it. The detectives will do what they can, but I guess I needn't
tell you there isn't much chance," went on the officer. He evidently
regarded Frank and Ned as New York lads, and indeed they had the smart
appearance of those who are familiar with the metropolis.
"No, I guess we can score that up to profit and loss," said Frank,
gloomily.
"At any rate, give me your names and addresses," suggested the
policeman. "I'll have to make a report of it to the station," and he
took out notebook and pencil.
Most of the crowd had left the elevated station now, seeing no further
chance for excitement, and standing on the platform, Frank gave an
account of the affair, telling how, by the clever ruse of a pretended
quarrel, the men had so engaged the attention of his brother and himself
that they never noticed the trained and nimble fingers of the
pickpockets taking the watch and money.
"Yes, it is an old trick," the policeman said. "It's often been worked
before. I'll go back to the aquarium with you and see if any of the
attendants noticed the two men, so I can get a description of them."
"One of the officers inside ordered them out when they seemed likely to
fight," proffered Ned.
"I'll have a talk with him," decided the policeman. But he could get
nothing more than a general description of the two thieves, and from
that he did not recognize them as any well-known criminals.
"Well, give me your names and addresses," said the policeman again, when
it became evident that nothing more could be done.
Frank complied, stating that they lived in Ipswhich.
"We might as well call that our home," he said to Ned afterward. "It's
the only real one we ever had, and maybe we'll get back to it some day."
"I hope so," sighed his brother. "But what are we going to do now,
Frank? We surely are up against it good and hard!"
They had left the aquarium for the second time, parted from the officer,
and were now by themselves. The crowd had melted away. There had been no
chance for any real pursuit of the pickpockets.
"Yes, we've got to consider what to do," said Frank, and his voice had
in it a serious note.
"I'm half starved," murmured Ned.
"So am I," added Frank. "We've got enough money left to buy us a few
meals, anyhow. Luckily I held back a little change," and he produced it
from a pocket the thief had not found. "We'll go and get a bite, and
then we'll be better able to consider matters," he went on, as he led
the way hastily up and across Broadway, toward a restaurant.
The meal was grateful to the boys, who had had nothing since early
morning, and it was now nearly two o'clock. They did not talk much
during the process of eating, for they did not want to let their
troubles be known. But a careful observer might have seen anxious and
rather gloomy looks on the faces of both lads.
"Well, now what?" asked Ned, as they came out of the eating place.
"Let's walk down around South Ferry," proposed Frank. "The elevated
train that one of those fellows took went in that direction. Those
thieves will have to meet again, and it's barely possible that we may
see them on the street. If we do, we can have them arrested."
"Not much chance," commented Ned, shaking his head.
"No, but every chance is worth taking."
"Oh, yes, sure."
Together they walked down toward the lower end of the Island of
Manhattan--the location known as South Ferry, where the waters of the
East and Hudson River mingle.
Frank was thinking hard. He and his brother had between them now only
the clothing they had left at the Pennsylvania station, and a few
dollars that the thief had not taken. It would hardly last them two days
if they had to engage a boarding place.
"Say, that's the life all right!" suddenly exclaimed Ned. Frank saw him
pointing to a gaily-colored poster which depicted some sailors landing
on a tropical island, while in the distance, on the blue waters of a
palm-encircled bay, was a battleship. It was one of Uncle Sam's
attractive posters, calling for young men to join the navy.
"Yes, that does look enticing," admitted Frank.
And then, before he could say any more, Ned clapped him heartily on the
back, and exclaimed so loudly that several passersby heard it and
smiled:
"Let's enlist! Let's enlist, old man! That will solve all our troubles!"