"See here, will you?" cried Fred suddenly. "It looks to me as if nobody lived here. Every one of the windows is boarded up on the inside. I believe this house is being used for nothing but a storehouse. I don't believe a soul lives here." "Hello, Nappy! Hello, Slugger!" called out Jack loudly. "Where are you?" To this call there was no reply. CHAPTER XXIV DICK ROVER'S REVELATION "We've been tricked!" exclaimed Randy. "Just what I think!" burst out Fred. "They didn't bring us here to see Gabe Werner at all!" "There isn't a soul around the building, that's certain," remarked Andy. "What do you suppose has become of Nappy and Slugger?" The Rovers looked around in the fast-gathering darkness, but could see no one. Then they walked around the building several times, peering in all directions for a sight of the fellows who had brought them on this strange mission. "It's a storehouse, right enough," announced Jack. "And my opinion is that everything is nailed up except the front door, and that, as you can see, has a padlock on it." It was certainly a mystery, and for the time being the Rover boys were unable to solve it. Looking down on the ground, they saw a number of footprints, but it was now too dark to follow any of these. "Wish we had brought a pocket flashlight along," remarked Fred. "It's getting as dark as a stack of black cats," said Andy. "Yes, and we had better be getting back to town before it gets so dark we lose our way," returned Jack. As it was, they had some difficulty in finding the path down to the road. Then they stumbled along in the darkness, occasionally heading into some mud hole up to their ankles. "Nappy and Slugger certainly have the laugh on us for this," said Fred, as they plowed along. "Maybe they thought we would lose our way completely in this darkness." It was a good half-hour before the Rovers reached the outskirts of Columbina. At a great distance they could see many twinkling electric lights, one of which hung on the top of every oil derrick. But these were so far off they did nothing towards illuminating the way. "Almost ten o'clock," announced Jack, consulting his watch. "About all we can do is to clean the mud from our shoes and go to bed." There was a sleepy young clerk behind the counter of the hotel, and he showed them where they could clean up. "No bootblacks in Columbina," said Randy, with a grin. And then all set to work with a whisk broom and brushes to clean up. "I wonder if Uncle Dick will get in to-night," remarked Fred. The last train to stop at Columbina was due in fifteen minutes. "I think I'll stay up and find out," said Jack. "You waiting for Mr. Rover?" demanded the boy behind the counter, as he yawned and stretched himself. "If you are, he came in a couple of hours ago." "Is that so!" cried Jack, in surprise. "Where is he now?"