Noon
`` It is certainly a mystery , '' said Dick . `` I suppose you 'd give a good deal to have it cleared up . `` I 'd give half of what I am worth , '' answered Harold Bird , earnestly . Noon found our friends at the town of Benton -- a place of some importance in the cotton trade . Without delay Dick sought out the man who had had to do with the telegrams . `` I ca n't tell you much more than what I put in the message , '' said the man . `` I saw the houseboat out yonder and headed in that direction .