The burly farmer entered, and the cadets quickly related what had occurred.  When Mr. Fasick saw the shattered safe he was all but stunned.

“The pesky rascal!” he ejaculated.  “Did he run away with much?”

“That we don’t know, for we have no idea what was in the safe,” replied Jack.

“He must have taken some of the silver spoons, and knives and forks,” put in Pepper.  “Here is the empty silverware case, and I found a loose silver fork on the floor of the dining-room.”

“The Fords will be the only ones to tell just what was taken,” said Andy.  “And the sooner we notify them the better.”

“I don’t know if they are in the city or not,” said Isaac Fasick “I know they meant to travel some this winter.”

“They are at their city home just now; I got a letter day before yesterday,” answered the former major of the school battalion.  He did not deem it necessary to say the letter was from Laura Ford.

“Let us telegraph to them,” said Pepper.  “But what about the thief?  We ought to get right after him.”

“We can tell Jed Plodders,” said the farmer.  “He’s the Cedarville constable and pretty smart, too.”

“Jed will never catch that fellow,” answered Jack.  “He’ll be miles and miles away before the constable gets his badge pinned on to go after him.”

“Oh, Jed is smart,” cried the farmer.  “He’s my wife’s second cousin, and the whole family is mighty cute.”

“All right, let him catch the thief,” answered Pepper.

Matters were talked over for several minutes, and the boys decided to separate, Andy and Pepper to remain on guard at the Lodge and Fred and Jack to run the iceboat to Cedarville and take Isaac Fasick along.

“Now, don’t you run into no air-holes!” cried the farmer, as he took a seat on the Skimmer.  “I don’t want to drown just yet, not me!”

“We’ll be on our guard,” answered the owner of the craft.

“The wind is just right,” said Jack, as the mainsail was hoisted.  This was true, and the run to the village took but a few minutes.  While the boys went off to send their message to the Fords, Isaac Fasick hunted up the constable and related what had occurred.

“Ha! a robbery, eh?” cried the constable, looking highly important.

“That’s it, Jed.”

“And you caught the boys in the house all alone?” went on the constable, trying to look very wise.

“Why, yes; I did.”

“Maybe they did the robbery, Isaac.”

“By gum!  I didn’t think of that, Jed!” exclaimed the farmer.

“It would be an easy way of tryin’ to look innercent,” went on the constable.  “They fixed it all up—­blow open the safe, hide the silver an’ other valerables, an’ then, when you surprise ’em, they try to put the crime off on sumbuddy else.”

“Say, Jed, do you think that’s so?” asked the farmer, his suspicions aroused.

“Don’t it look reasonable, Isaac?”