A FRUITLESS SEARCH
There was much buzzing and whispering among the pupils as they marched
to their classrooms--whispering which the teachers and principal thought
best to ignore under the circumstances, for the morning announcement had
been an unusual one.
Bart, Fenn, Ned and Frank were in the same grade, and their first
morning period was taken up with a Latin recitation. All four were doing
some hard thinking as they got out their books in Mr. Kenton's room.
Bart Keene was the first of the four chums to make up his mind. He felt
a certain responsibility, since he had proposed the joke.
"Mr. Kenton," he asked, "may I be excused for a moment?"
"What for, Keene?" inquired the Latin instructor.
"I wish to--to speak to Professor Long."
There was an audible gasp of astonishment from Bart's classmates at
this. Ned and Frank started to their feet, to utter a protest. They saw
Bart's motive, but they were not going to let him bear the brunt of the
punishment alone. There was a curious look on the face of Fenn.
"You may go, Keene," went on the instructor.
"May I also?" exclaimed Frank, and again there was a buzz of excited
whispers. The other lads knew what Bart's request meant.
"Silence!" called Mr. Kenton, sharply. "One at a time is enough," he
added grimly. "We will proceed with the lesson. Ned Wilding, you may
begin to translate."
Discipline held sway once more, and the boys settled back into their
seats. Bart, conscious that the eyes of every lad in the room were on
him, walked out. He found Professor Long in the chemical laboratory,
preparing for some class work.
"Ah, Keene," remarked the science instructor, as he mixed some
unpleasant-smelling liquids in a test tube. "Did you wish to see me?"
"Yes--yes, sir," stammered Bart. "You said--that is--I--er--I was the
one who took the collection of reptiles," blurted out the uneasy lad.
"But I didn't take the diamond bracelet! We didn't see anything of it! I
hope you'll believe me! You don't know how unpleasant it is to be
accused. At one time I--that is my chums and I--were accused of blowing
up the school tower with dynamite, and----"
"Yes, I remember that happening," went on Mr. Long, gravely. "You were
innocent on that occasion."
"And we are innocent now!" burst out Bart. "We--that is I--took the
turtles and the alligators, but we--that is I--never saw the bracelet.
Are you sure it was in the cabinet, Mr. Long?"
"Very sure, Bart. But you might save yourself some embarrassment by
telling me all the details. I'm glad to see you willing to bear all the
blame, but, if you were alone in the escapade, how is it that I found
Ned Wilding's knife, and this handkerchief with Frank Roscoe's name on
it," and the instructor, with a smile, held up the articles he
mentioned.
"I--I dropped Ned's knife," replied Bart. "I had borrowed it."
"And Frank's handkerchief?"
"I--I didn't have that," and Bart looked confused.
"I think I can guess how it was," said Mr. Long at length. "You were all
four after my collection, and----"
"Not all four!" interrupted Bart. "Fenn wasn't there. You see we were
playing a joke on him," the lad went on, in a burst of confidence,
realizing that it was useless to try to shoulder all the blame. "Ned,
Frank and I came in here Friday night and got the things. I knew I had
lost Ned's knife, but I didn't think I'd dropped it here. But Fenn
wasn't along. We took the things to his house, and put them in the pen
with his reptiles. He is making a collection."
"So I understand," remarked Mr. Long. "Therefor I have a proposal to
make. It is barely possible that in gathering up the toads, alligators
and turtles from my cabinet that you boys picked up the bracelet with
them. You may have dropped it in the place where Fenn keeps his
collection. Perhaps if you go there and look you will find it, and also
the missing turtle, which I value highly. But, of course, the bracelet
is more valuable, and as it was a birthday present to Mrs. Long she will
feel the loss very much. Will you kindly go and look? I am sure Mr.
McCloud will excuse you."
"I'll be glad to make a search!" exclaimed Bart, eagerly. "Perhaps if
Ned and Frank----"
"Just what I was about to propose," interrupted the instructor. "I'll
request the principal to let you four boys leave your classes this
morning, to make a hunt for the missing bracelet--and the turtle. Don't
forget that."
"I'm--I'm very sorry--sorry we disturbed your collection, Professor
Long," stammered Bart, "but I know we never touched, or saw, the
diamond bracelet."
"I know you didn't mean to take the bracelet," went on Mr. Long, a bit
stiffly. "Of course it was a foolish, and, at the same time, a risky
trick to play, and, while I believe you had no intention of keeping the
bracelet, I cannot but believe that in some way you removed it from the
cabinet, either in catching up one of the reptiles hurriedly, or
otherwise. I shall be glad to talk with Ned and Frank. But now I suggest
that you go to Fenn's house and make a search."
"We never took or saw the bracelet, Professor!" declared Bart, with
great earnestness. He felt, somehow, just as he did the time the unjust
accusation of blowing up the school tower was made against him and his
chums, as related in a former volume of this series.
"Well," remarked the teacher, "I can only say that you boys were the only
ones in the school after the closing hours Friday. Some time between then
and this morning, the reptiles were taken and returned--that is all but
one large turtle--and the diamond bracelet belonging to my wife. There
can be but one conclusion, and I----"
"We were not the only ones in the school between Friday night and this
morning!" exclaimed Bart, and instantly his thoughts reverted to the
stranger who had acted so mysteriously.
"What do you mean?" asked the instructor, quickly.
"I mean--the janitor," replied Bart, with a sudden change in his tone.
He had started to mention the man, but concluded not to. He had several
reasons for this, as will develop presently.
"There is where you are mistaken," declared Professor Long. "The janitor,
and two assistants whom he hired, cleaned out the school late Friday
afternoon. I know, for I remained here to go over some of my class
records. It was late when I left, and the janitor had finished before I
was ready to go. I know this because Riggs asked me to be sure and close
the front door and put the spring lock on when I came out. I was the last
person to leave the school Friday night, and I locked the door. Riggs had
gone. The reason why he did his cleaning work Friday night, and not
Saturday, as is usual, was because he wanted to go away over Sunday. He
did go, I understand, so you see you boys were the only ones in the
school."
"And did you lock the front door after you?" asked Bart with a sudden
suspicion in his mind, as he thought of the mysterious man.
"I did, certainly. Why do you ask?"
"Oh--nothing--only I thought--I--" Again Bart was about to speak of the
midnight visitor to the school, and again he refrained.
"By the way, how did you boys get in the school?" asked Professor Long,
suddenly.
"I--er--we--that is----"
"Never mind," hastily interrupted the instructor, "I should not have
asked that. I have no wish to pry further into this matter than is
necessary. Believe me, I appreciate your motive in making a clean breast
of it. I do not care to know all the details. Boys will be boys, I
suppose. Only get me back the diamond bracelet and the turtle. I will
see Mr. McCloud at once, and I'm sure he will let you make a search at
Fenn's house."
Bart's opportunity had passed. If he only had mentioned the fact that he
and his chums found the front door open, and had seen a mysterious man
enter the school, things might have turned out differently, and much
trouble have been averted. But now it was too late. Mr. Long hurried to
the office of the principal, and returned shortly with permission for
the four chums to go and make a search.
"But why didn't you tell him about the man we saw?" asked Ned, as they
were on their way to Fenn's house.
"Because," answered Bart.
"That's a regular girl's reason," objected Frank.
"Well," answered Bart desperately, somewhat weary and nervous over the
ordeal through which he had gone, "the chief reason was that if I told
that, I'd have to tell why we didn't notify the police. That's where we
made a mistake. If that fellow was a thief, and took the bracelet, we
should have called the police."
"We didn't know he was a thief--we don't know it yet," declared Frank.
"No, but when we saw a stranger sneaking into the school, we should have
had gumption enough to notify the authorities," insisted Bart. "That's
where we were slow. I didn't want to make it any worse. If we find the
bracelet, all right; we won't have to tell how silly we were."
"And if we don't find it--which is very likely to be the case--what
then?" asked Fenn.
"Well, we didn't take it, that's certain," decided Frank. "Neither by
accident nor intentionally--did we take that bracelet."
"Then the man we saw, did," said Ned.
"Yes, and he's far enough off by now," observed Frank. "Fellows, I'll
bet he was the thief!"
"How could he be?" asked Bart. "He didn't know the bracelet was in the
cabinet. Besides, no ordinary person would think of looking among a lot
of reptiles for anything valuable."
"Well, if we don't find it I think we'd better tell about the man," was
Fenn's opinion.
"It will be too late then," insisted Bart.
"Too late? Why?" Frank wanted to know.
"Because if we come back without the missing turtle and bracelet, and
tell about having seen a mysterious man enter the school just before we
did, on Friday night, every one will say we made up the story to shield
ourselves. No, the best way, if we can't find that diamond ornament, is
to keep mum about the man."
"And let them accuse us?" cried Frank, indignantly.
"For a while--yes," replied Bart. "It won't be the first time, and
probably not the last. But I don't mean by that for us to sit still
under the accusation."
"What _do_ you mean?" asked Fenn.
"I mean to find the missing bracelet, Stumpy!" was the emphatic answer.
"That's what we've got to do! It's up to us! We didn't take it, but
perhaps that man did. If so we've got to find him as well as the
bracelet. Come on, now, not so much talking. Let's get busy, but,
remember, if we don't find the bracelet now, we must keep mum about the
man, if we don't want to be laughed at, as well as accused."
There was a momentary discussion, but Bart's chums agreed with him, as
they usually did. They hastened on to Fenn's house, and at once began a
frantic search about the yard and in the shack where the lad kept his
reptiles.
But there was no sign of the bracelet. Fenn lifted out every one of his
turtles, toads and kindred specimens, and the place was gone over
carefully. So was the route the boys had taken to and from the school.
But it was a fruitless search.
"Fellows, let's look for the mud turtle, anyhow," suggested Ned. "Maybe
we can find that for Professor Long, if we can't get the bracelet."
They looked in every likely and unlikely place for the missing turtle,
but it had vanished as completely as had the bracelet. They were loath
to give up the hunt, but concluded that there was nothing else to do. As
they were about to return to the school much cast down and dispirited,
to report no progress, Fenn exclaimed:
"Fellows, I have just thought of something."
"Out with it," ordered Bart.
"I believe the mud turtle has the bracelet!" exclaimed the stout youth.
"The mud turtle? Are you crazy?" demanded Ned.
"No, I'm not," answered Fenn, with a show of indignation. "Listen! The
missing mud turtle was a large one, and a species that has a very long
neck. Now it would be the easiest thing in the world for the turtle to
get the diamond bracelet over his neck, and walk off with it. One of
mine once got his neck in an iron ring, and I didn't know it for quite a
while, as the folds of skin on the reptile's neck hid the iron. I'll
wager that's what's happened in this case. We'll find that the turtle is
wearing Mrs. Long's diamond bracelet on its neck!"
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Bart.
"Well, there might be something in it," admitted Ned. "Let's have
another look for that turtle, fellows."
"We'll look for the turtle all right," agreed Bart, "but as for expecting
to find Mrs. Long's diamond bracelet on its neck--why you fellows are
crazy to think of such a thing. You might as well expect to find hickory
nuts growing on a peach tree. You're loony! Off your trolley! You've got
bats in your belfry, as the poet says," and, when Frank and Ned thought
it over, they were inclined to agree with their chum.