It was a hard, and quite a long job; but it was accomplished finally, and then, when the iron was nearly cold, a plentiful amount of oil was applied; the other wheels were lubricated, and the boys were ready to continue their journey again, having lost by this accident not more than an hour's time. "You are all right now," said the farmer, after he had positively refused to take any payment for his own time or for the use of his tools, "an' I reckon the waiting here won't make much of any difference to you." "It wouldn't have been of any account if we hadn't been chasing a pair of horses of mine that were stolen at Sawyer. We were close behind them, and should have overtaken them by this time if it hadn't been for this delay." "What is the color of your horses?" asked the man, evincing such a sudden interest that it seemed certain he knew something about the missing property. "A pair of small, dark chestnut horses, in a box buggy, driven by two young men," replied Bob, quickly, confident that they were about to hear some good news, and answering all possible questions at once, in order that they might not be delayed any longer than necessary. "Then it is fortunate for you that you had trouble which made you stop here, or else you would have gone on and missed them," replied the man, speaking slowly, as if there was no possible reason why the boys should hurry on in pursuit. "When did you see them?" asked George, hurriedly. "Tell us at once, so that we needn't lose any more time." "There's no need for you to rush," drawled the man, much as if he enjoyed keeping the boys in suspense, "for if you stay right where you are, you will see them. They've got to come back this way, sure." The boys looked around as if they expected to see the thieves pop out from some hiding-place near by, and after waiting a moment to enjoy the effect his words had produced, the farmer asked, as he pointed nearly opposite the house to where a road branched off from the highway, leading, apparently, into the woods: "Do you see that road?" And then, as if realizing how useless such a question was when the road was so well defined, he continued: "Wa-al, I reckon that the same team you are huntin' after was driv up that road about an hour or so ago. It was a small pair of dark chestnut hosses, an' good ones, with a fancy buggy, an' two young fellers drivin'." "Where does that road lead to?" asked Bob, excitedly. "That's the joke of it," said the farmer, with a laugh. "It don't lead nowhere 'cept inter my wood-lot, an' that's what made me notice ther team so perticularly, 'cause I couldn't make out what they wanted up there. I tell you what it is, boys, you've got your hoss-thieves in a trap, an' you kin pull 'em out whenever you want to." "Are you sure that there isn't any way out of that? Can't they strike the main road by driving across some field?" asked George.