CHAPTER VII

WHERE IS GORDON?

The night passed without incident except that Rogers did not call Gordon until nearly four o’clock and as a result received what he designated “a bawling out for fair.” Breakfast was an early meal as they were all on the anxious seat and were eager for action. So, as soon as the meal was over they held a council of war to decide what steps to take.

“There’s one thing about it,” Rogers opened the discussion, “and that is that we’ve got to do something.”

“Fact?” Gordon asked in a joking tone.

“What I mean is that we’ve got to take the offensive,” Rogers explained. “The fact that he or they made no attack on us last night seems to indicate that they’re going to play a waiting game.”

“And that doesn’t suit us at all,” Bill declared. “We want to get on with the work we came out here to do.”

“Spoken like a soldier,” Gordon told him.

“But we’ve got to keep away from the cliffs until we know it’s safe. As it is now they have all the advantage and we don’t want to stop any stones with our heads.”

“Or with any other part of our anatomy for that matter,” Bill added.

“How about taking a stroll along the top of them?” Gordon suggested. “We couldn’t find him or them with the help of the plane but maybe we can do it on foot.”

“That’s what I was going to suggest,” Rogers said. “But I’m not sure as it will be safe,” he added soberly.

“Well, I’d rather take a walk on the top of them than down below the way things stand now,” Gordon told him.

“So would I,” Rogers told him, “but that doesn’t make it safe, you know.”

“But I don’t believe the fellow, whoever it was, is armed,” Bill declared. “If he had been he’d have used his gun instead of a stone.”

“That sounds reasonable, but it isn’t certain,” Rogers told him.

“Well, there are only two certain things in this world, so I’ve heard, and they are death and taxes,” Gordon smiled.

“But I think it’s a safe bet that he hasn’t got a gun,” Bill insisted.

“All right, but we’ve got to be careful,” Rogers in turn insisted. “Now if you boys will stay here and guard the camp I’ll take a walk and see what I can find.”

“Did you hear what I heard, Bill?” Gordon asked.

“I heard something that doesn’t go,” Bill laughed.

“Not an inch, it doesn’t. Say, Steve, just what do you take us for?”

“Well, I only thought——”

“Just turn your thoughts in another direction,” Gordon interrupted. “You know it doesn’t need but one to guard the camp.”

“All right, all right. You two match to see who goes with me.”

“How about all three of us matching to see who stays?” Bill suggested.

But on that proposition Rogers put his foot down flat and nothing could change him. “No,” he declared, “I’ll take either one of you but I won’t stay here and let you both go and there’s no use in wasting time over it.”

It was finally decided that Gordon would stay, and after cautioning him to keep his eyes open, Rogers and Bill started off.

“You don’t suppose do you that that fellow, whoever he is, knows what we’re here for?” Bill asked after they had gone a short distance.

“I hardly see how he could,” Rogers told him. “Of course he probably suspects that we’re hunting for something.”

“But if he does I shouldn’t think he’d want to bump us off till we find it.”

“That’s so, too. I hadn’t thought of it in that way.”

“Seems to me more likely that in some way we’re treading on his toes if you know what I mean.”

“You mean that he’s hunting for something and that we’re in his way?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, that may be it.”

By this time they had reached the top of the cliffs a little to the right of the pathway along which they had reached the shore. The ground here was very uneven and covered with rocks of all sizes interspersed with clumps of low bushes with here and there a tuft of tall grass.

“Gee, but there are as many good hiding places along here as Carter has liver pills,” Bill declared. “A fellow could keep out of sight of an army easily enough.”

“That’s a lot,” Rogers laughed.

They walked or rather picked their way slowly along the edge keeping both eyes and ears alert for the sight or sound of the man or men they were hunting. But they finally reached the rift, where the rock had been thrown the day before, without seeing or hearing anything at all suspicious.

“Well, I reckon we’ve drawn a blank so far,” Bill whispered as they stood close together on the edge of the rift.

“Looks very much that way,” Rogers agreed. “But, to tell the truth, I didn’t really expect anything different.”

“And neither did I,” Bill agreed with a slight smile.

“Well, what’ll we do now? Go back keeping farther from the edge?”

“I suppose that’s the logical thing to do.”

“But you don’t think it’ll do any good, eh?”

“Frankly, I doubt it.”

“So do I, but we’ll try it. I don’t know of a better plan, so come on.”

Half an hour later they were back again at the point opposite the camp and, as Bill put it, knew just as much as when they started.

“And no more,” Rogers smiled.

“But the discouraging part of it is that we may have passed within a few feet of him and never knew it.”

“Like hunting for a needle in a hay stack,” Rogers declared.

“Well, we might’s well get back to camp and hold another council of war.”

“I reckon.”

But when they arrived a few minutes later a surprise awaited them. Gordon was nowhere in sight. Everything seemed in perfect order and there was no sign that anything out of the ordinary had taken place except that he had disappeared.

“Probably gone to the spring for water,” Rogers suggested.

“I’ll take a look,” Bill said and started on the run.

But he was back in a few minutes with word that the missing boy was not there. “I’ll give him a call,” he said as he put his fingers to his lips and sent forth a loud whistle. “That’ll get him if he’s within a half mile,” he declared.

But the whistle brought no response, and for a moment the two looked at each other without speaking. Then Bill broke the silence:

“Something’s happened and we’ve got to find out what. We must look for signs.”

But a thorough search all about the camp revealed nothing. There was not the slightest sign of a struggle and nothing was missing except Gordon.

“He must have gone somewhere of his own accord,” Rogers declared. “I can’t picture him being carried off without putting up a fight and you couldn’t put up much of a scrap without leaving some indication of it.”

“But why should he go away and leave things to guard themselves? That isn’t like Gordon.”

“That’s true too, but——”

“I used to think I was pretty good at reading signs in the woods and following trails and all that sort of thing,” Bill interrupted, “but I can’t make a thing out of this mess. There’s absolutely nothing to read so far as I can see.”

“Try that whistle once more.”

Bill obeyed but there was no response and for several minutes neither spoke. Never, perhaps, had Bill been so worried. The disappearance of his brother coming so soon after the attempt on his life seemed most ominous, and he felt so helpless not knowing which way to turn.

“Well, we’re not getting anywhere standing still and thinking about it,” he finally declared. “Gordon never went off and left his post without some good reason and, in spite of the fact that we can find nothing to indicate it, I believe he was carried off.”

“What will we do?”

“We’ll take the plane and see what we can find.”

Bill quickly took two of the cells from their hiding place and in another minute threw over the switch. But, greatly to his surprise, nothing happened.

“Maybe there is a sign after all,” he said as he started the search for the trouble. “Wires are all right,” he declared after a short inspection. “I can’t see——yes I can too, here’s the trouble. The brushes are gone from this commutator. Now what do you know about that? Must have been done by someone that knows something about a motor.”

“How about the brushes in the other motor?”

“They’re all right.”

“Then we can go straight up?”

“Tell you in a minute.”

Bill threw on the switch of the elevator and the propeller at once began to revolve. “Yep, it’s all right,” he announced. “But a lot of good it’ll do us.”

“How about changing those brushes? Won’t they fit the other motor?”

“They’ll fit all right but there’s no chance to get off the ground here without the elevator, it’s too rough.”

“That’s so too.”

“If we were only down on the beach we could do it.”

“Couldn’t we push it down?”

“In about a day’s time.”

“Sure you haven’t any spare brushes?”

“It’s just possible Gordon put some in the tool kit. I know I didn’t. I’ll take a look. We sure are in luck,” he announced a moment later. “Here’s a half dozen new ones. Now just a minute and I’ll have them in.”

Ten minutes later they were in the air and ready to start the search.

“I’m going to fly as slow as possible and keep as near the ground as I dare,” Bill told his companion. “He can’t be very far off and unless he’s hidden out of sight we ought to see him. I’ll go around in a circle making it a little larger each time.”

“Don’t build too many hopes on finding him this way,” Rogers advised. “If the parties who did it knew enough to take those brushes out they’ll probably be wise enough to keep out of sight.”

“But they’ll think we can’t use the plane.”

“Unless they see us.”

“Of course we’ve got to risk that.”

“It’s a strange thing to me that he didn’t smash the plane and make sure of it,” Rogers said a few minutes later.

“I’ve thought of that,” Bill told him. “But perhaps he has hopes of using it himself, and so didn’t want to hurt it. I suppose it didn’t occur to him that we’d have any extra brushes along.”

“I dare say you’re right.”

They were flying at about twenty-five miles an hour and not more than a hundred feet from the ground. Rogers was searching the territory with the powerful glass and Bill was keeping his eyes on the region directly beneath them. They had made half a dozen circles when Rogers suddenly cried:

“Come back over that big clump of bushes just to our right, Bill.”

“Did you see something?”

“I’m not sure but I’d like to take another look.”

“Sure thing,” Bill told him giving the wheel a sharp turn.

“Go as low as you can.”

“Touch the tops of them if you say so.”

“Well, come pretty near it,” Rogers ordered as the plane swung around in a broad circle.

“Right?”

“Just a bit more to the left.”

“Right.”

“I thought so,” Rogers said in a low tone as the plane passed over the clump so low that it barely missed the top of the thick growth of bushes.

“What is it?” Bill demanded.

“There’s a little hut in that clump.”

“You sure? I didn’t see it.”

“You wouldn’t from your side of the plane, but it’s there just the same.”

“Didn’t see anyone, did you?”

“No, but I’m betting there’s someone there just the same.”

“We’ll find out mighty soon,” Bill promised as he searched the ground for a good landing place.

He had already started the elevator and now the plane was almost stationary.

“Right there to your right is a good place,” Rogers directed and a moment later they leaped from their seats.

“Better take those cells out,” Rogers advised.

“I’ll do that,” Bill told him. “We don’t want the plane swiped.”

They had landed some hundred yards from the clump of bushes, and taking their automatics from their pockets, they lost no time in approaching it.

“Mum’s the word,” Rogers whispered as they drew near.

“They’ve probably seen the plane, that is, if there’s anyone there,” Bill whispered.

“Wouldn’t wonder, but we’ll be careful just the same. There’s a chance they haven’t.”

The clump of bushes was nearly circular and about eighty feet in diameter and they could see that it was very dense. The bushes, which to Bill, looked much like small fir trees, grew in a tangled mass and it looked as though one would have great difficulty in forcing one’s way through.

“There must be a path somewhere,” Rogers whispered when they were within a few feet of it.

“And it’ll be guarded more than likely if there’s anyone at home. I think we’d better try to get through some other place.”

“Looks pretty thick.”

“Sure does, but we can do it if we take time enough.”