"
This news came like a slap in the face to the lawyer's son. He
remained with Bert for another hour, but all the time Fred brooded
over the fact that Dick & Co. were to have their canoe after all.
"At that, I don't know that they will have their canoe," Fred
remarked darkly to himself as he started homeward.
Shortly after midnight Fred Ripley sneaked away from his home,
turning his face in the direction of Hiram Driggs' boatyard.
CHAPTER IV
HIRAM PRIES A SECRET LOOSE
When he left home Fred Ripley had no clearly defined idea as to
what he meant to do.
However, he had in one pocket a keen-bladed pocket knife. Well
wrapped in paper a short but sharp-edged chisel rested in one
of the side pockets of his coat.
At the outset his only purpose was to do irreparable mischief
to the war canoe. The means of accomplishing that purpose he
must decide upon when he reached the boatyard.
How dark it was, and how hot! Late as the hour was the baking
heat of the day did not seem to have left the ground. Fred walked
along rapidly, fanning his perspiring face with his straw hat.
"They'll have their war canoe in the water in a few days, will
they?" the lawyer's son muttered. "Humph!"
Through the side streets he went, keeping a sharp lookout. Conscious
of the fact that he was bent on an unworthy errand, Fred did not
care to be recognized abroad at this unusual hour.
In a few minutes he had reached the boatyard.
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