"I had my doubts, and I spoke to father about it on the bridge just before you came along in the boat. He thought that his brother was just crazy enough to do such a thing; but he thought whiskey had a good deal to do with the matter, especially in permitting him to tell his wife about it. Of course Sandy and Orly are mixed up in this business. But this is an old story by this time, Artie, and you have not told me yet what you are driving at," said Deck impatiently. "We are going to look for the arms and ammunition, Deck!" exclaimed the originator of the enterprise. "Is that talking plainly enough?" "To look for the arms and ammunition!" almost shouted the after oarsman, ceasing to use his oar in the astonishment of the moment. "You insisted on my telling you all at once, and I have done so; you have stopped rowing." "What you said was enough to throw a fellow off his base. Do you mean that you are going on a wild-goose chase all over the State of Kentucky to look for what may be a mere notion, conjured up by an overdose of whiskey?" demanded Deck, still resting on his oar. "Don't get excited, Coeur de Lyon; cold steel cuts best," said Artie. "And that's the reason father puts his razor into hot water when he is shaving." "I don't think anybody is right down sure of anything in this world," continued the leader of the enterprise. "I think I am as sure as any fellow can be in this State of Kentucky, where no man or boy can tell which end he stands on, that I know where Uncle Titus's arms and ammunition are hidden." "You know!" ejaculated Deck. "I think I know." "What are you doing up the creek, then? Didn't Aunt Amelia say that the arms were concealed near the river?" asked Deck, hardly able to breathe in his excitement. "I think I know where they are hidden better than she did. If Uncle Titus told his wife that they were hidden on the river,--and that is just what aunt said,--her husband intended to cheat her," said Artie very confidently. "I should say that a dozen glasses of whiskey would not have made Uncle Titus fool enough to tell anybody where the arms were concealed, not even his wife; and they don't seem to be a very loving couple since they came to Kentucky." "That's so," added Deck. "Do you remember that time about a fortnight ago when father spoke to me about being out so late one night, Deck?" "I remember it; it was on the bridge." "That night I found out something I could not explain, but I can now, after what I heard at dinner to-day. But we have eight or ten miles to pull if we are going to find the arms to-day, and we must be moving," added Artie. Deck rowed again, and they proceeded up the creek, Artie telling his night adventure by the way. CHAPTER VII A STORMY INTERVIEW ON THE BRIDGE