nearest telegraph office, Richard, and telegraph to your folks. You might also get some of the local authorities to take up the hunt for this criminal."
"Who are the local authorities?"
"I really don't know, but we can find out at Oakville."
In the end Dick and Tom received permission to leave camp for an indefinite time. Late as it was, they hurried to Oakville and caught the telegraph operator at the little railroad station just as he was shutting up for the night.
Having sent the message to their father they made inquiries of the operator and learned that the town boasted of a Judge Perkins and that the local constable was Munro Staton.
"Do you mean the farmer who lives down on the road to Bass Lake?" asked Dick. "The man who has twin daughters?"
"That's the man."
"Why, he was in camp to-day, with his daughters," cried Dick. "Wish I had known of this before. I might have hired him to make a hunt for the fellow we are after. Where does that judge live?"
"Sorry, but he went to New York yesterday and won't be back for several days."
The boys said no more, but without delay
