When the boys reached the scene of the wreck they found the smashed car just where they had seen it last. The tires had been taken and some of the accessories that had escaped destruction had been stripped from the automobile, but the car had been so badly smashed that there were few evidences of disturbance.

Leaving their motorcycles by the side of the road, the lads plunged down into the bushes and busied themselves examining the wreckage. Joe hunted through the side pockets in the hope that there might be papers or some other means of identification, but in this he was disappointed. There were no license plates, but Frank managed to secure the engine number, and this he jotted down in a notebook he carried.

“Perhaps this will give us a clue. Although I have an idea that the fellow got this car in the same way he got Chet’s. It’s probably a stolen automobile.”

For a time they rummaged around among the wreckage without success. Then, at last, Frank gave a low cry.

“Here’s something!” he exclaimed. “Look!”