"Hello, boys!" he called drawlingly. "Who's been a-chasing you? What scared you?" "Read that notice, sir, tacked up at the bridge entrance," urged Dick. Alighting, and drawing a pair of spectacles from a vest pocket, the farmer complied. "Mad dog, eh?" he drawled. "Sho!" "Did you see anything of the brute?" called Darry. "No; I didn't," answered the farmer. "Don't believe there is any mad dog along the way, either. I've reined up and talked with neighbors during the last hour and a half along the way. They didn't mention nothin' 'bout any peevish dogs. Now, it stands to reason that the officers would have stopped and warned folks along the road, don't it? And the neighbors would have passed the gossip with me, wouldn't they?" "Didn't you see any officers coming from this way?" asked Dick. "Nary one," rejoined the farmer. "Only fellers that passed me, coming from this direction, was two young dudes---I sh'd say about your ages. They was in a high-toned speed wagon-----" "Automobile?" asked Reade. "Said so, didn't I?" drawled the farmer. "Them dudes looked mighty tickled about something. They was laughin' a whole lot and looked mighty well pleased with themselves. Do you reckon they was any friends of your'n, trying to have fun with you?" "I can't recall any friends who would try to put up such a pleasant surprise for us," said Dick dryly, as he slipped down to the ground. "What did the fellows in the automobile look like, sir?" That farmer possessed well-developed powers of observation, as was proved by the minute descriptions he gave of the two young men. Dick's chums, who had now joined him at the roadside, looked puzzled. Then light dawned in Tom's eyes. "Jupiter!" cried Reade. "If it weren't that they're not in this part of the country, I'd say that the pair were Dodge and Bayliss!" "How do you know they're not in this part of the country?" asked Prescott dryly. Then, of the farmer, he further inquired: "What kind of a car were they driving, sir?" "A red Smattach, last year's model," answered the man. "That's just what the Dodge automobile runabout is, and Smattach cars are not common in this section," muttered Prescott. Then he went over to take a keener look at the written notice on the sheet of white paper. "This looks like disguised handwriting; it's backhanded," Dick mused aloud. "But I notice one thing peculiar. Who makes a funny little quirl at the beginning of a letter 'm,' such as you see in this writing?" "Bert Dodge!" flashed Dave Darrin, an indignant light flashing in his eyes. "So we're six simpletons, held up by his shady tricks, are we? If Bert Dodge is anywhere ahead of us on the road, then I hope we have the good luck to meet him under conditions where he can't jam on the speed and get away from us!" "Joke on you all, is it?" asked the farmer, grinning quizzically.