CHAPTER XXXI

THE SEARCH

Long blasts and short blasts did Old Sam blow on the mellow conch horn as, with his lips pressed to the opening, he puffed out his cheeks. Now the sound would almost die away, to blare out again with a suddenness that startled the girls.

"What--what does it mean?" faltered Sylvia.

"It sounds like something I heard when once I was in Scotland," commented Mrs. Brownley. "An old chieftain thus summoned the members of his clan."

"It's the general alarm," explained Harry. "The guides have a way of signalling to one another that way. They can send all sorts of messages. This one is to summon all who hear the horn to join in a search."

"How good of them!" Sylvia said.

"Do they often gather together this way for a general alarm?" asked Alice.

"Occasionally," explained Adolph, who had spent nearly all of his summers in the Adirondacks. "Now and then a hunter will wander away from his camp, or become separated from his party and have to be found in this way."

"Are there any who are never found?" questioned Rose, in a low voice, and in an aside to Harry.

He paused a moment before answering. A look into her face showed how much in earnest she was. Harry decided upon his answer.

"They always find them," he said, speaking cheerfully. He did not add that sometimes the missing ones were found too late. What was the need of frightening Rose?

"How long will it be before you and your friends will be ready to start out on the search?" asked Mr. Russman of the old guide.

"We will start in the morning," he said. "The men will gather here to-night, and I'll tell them what's up. We'll start out as soon as it's light enough to see, and that will be about three o'clock in the morning these days."

"Can't we do anything?" asked Sylvia. "We want to help, oh, so much!"

Old Sam looked at her keenly. He must have understood her feelings. Then Rose broke in with:

"Oh, _please_ let us do something! It is terrible just to sit and wait!"

Old Sam nodded his head sagely.

"Yes, I know," he said, in a low voice. "I had a brother once lost in these woods."

"Did they find him again?" asked Hazel, eagerly.

"Oh, yes, miss. But it was some time, and----But there! we'll find _this_ young man, all right!" and he changed his voice to a more cheerful tone.

"And may we help?" repeated Sylvia, eagerly.

"Yes," said Sam. "If I were you I'd not go too far from the bungalow, though. What I mean is that your brother may return unexpectedly. In fact he may not be far from here now, but he may be going around in a sort of circle. If he was as ill as you say he was, he probably wouldn't go very far.

"But my friends and I will take in all the trails within a circle of ten miles, and you girls had better not go more than three in any direction from the bungalow. Then you won't be lost. We don't want to have to search for two and even more lost persons," he added, with a smile.

"Say, Sam," demanded Adolph, with the freedom of an old acquaintance, "can't you furnish us with a guide? One that can pilot us around in the woods near the bungalow. I know the forest pretty well, but I confess I might get lost myself. Suppose you give us a guide and we'll organise a searching party of our own."

"That's a good idea," Sam said. "I'll do that. Two parties ought to be better than one, just as two heads are better than a single one. Now my advice to you is to go back to your bungalow, and get a good night's rest. We can't do much at night, anyhow, particularly at this stage. Later on, if we have to make a torchlight search we can do it. But there's no need now. Go home and rest. I'll be getting ready for the guides. They'll soon be coming in, that is, all that aren't out with summer parties."

"Will they all hear that horn?" asked Sylvia, indicating the one Sam had blown.

"Well, not all, miss. But them as does hear it will blow another of their own, and so on. The word will be passed along."

"Hark!" exclaimed Rose.

From somewhere off in the forest there came the mellow notes of another conch horn. Clear and pleasant it sounded, and had it not been for the import of the blast, the girls would have enjoyed it, for the tones fell sweetly on the evening air. But now it seemed sadly melancholy.

"That'll be Jim Judson," said Sam. "He'll make them hear as I couldn't. We'll soon have quite a party here. I'll attend to the rest now, so you folks had better go back to the bungalow and get some sleep."

"Yes, I suppose so," said Sylvia, wearily. "It is all we can do until morning."

"And you will be able to do all the better work in the morning if you rest to-night, my dear," said Mrs. Brownley. "You look quite tired out."

Indeed Sylvia did look worn out, for she had not slept, and though the girls were sturdy, and accustomed to long tramps in the woods, they were all tired now. A rest would be a benefit to all of them.

"Well, let us go back," suggested Mr. Russman.

"Yes, the sooner we begin to rest the sooner we shall be able to take up the search," Mrs. Brownley added.

Rose and Sylvia walked together on the back trail. It was as if they had a common bond of sympathy between them, as indeed they had. They did not say much, partly because they were too tired, and also for the reason that they were doing much thinking.

"Oh, isn't it just dreadful!" murmured Rose, as they walked along in the gathering twilight.

"I can't bear it--sometimes!" agreed Sylvia. "To think of his being out there," and she indicated the forest that surrounded them.

As they walked along they could hear, now and then, the calling of the conch shell, as one guide signalled from his lonely cabin, or camp, to another of his fellows. The sounds came sweetly over the ocean of green trees.

It cannot be said that any of the party ate with good appetites when the bungalow was reached. But even the food they did take was of benefit to them. Sylvia felt much stronger, and certainly more hopeful after the meal, and so did Rose.

But she and the others dreaded the long night, when many thoughts would crowd in upon them. A part of the evening was spent in talk with Harry, who told of Roy's condition since he had come to the Adirondacks with him. The lost chemical formula had, it appeared, bothered the patient more than a little. It was really keeping him from getting well.

"And then came this outbreak," Harry went on. "It seemed to be the climax. I never saw Roy do anything more suddenly than when he leaped away from the table and rushed out into the woods. And he seemed to disappear as if the very earth had swallowed him up. But we'll find him--never fear!" he exclaimed, as he saw a look of pain pass over the face of Sylvia. "We'll get him back."

Sylvia and the others slept from very exhaustion, and in Sylvia's case, particularly, the hours of rest in the darkness performed a much-needed service. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but was saved from it.

She was awake early--much earlier than any of the others--and feeling that she could not sleep any more, and that to lie in bed, tossing restlessly about, would only make her more nervous, she arose, took a bath, dressed and went downstairs. Only the servants were about.

Sylvia went out on the porch. Sitting on a stump somewhat down the path was a man--a typical guide. He was idly whittling a stick, the soft, curling shavings falling in a heap at his feet. Sylvia guessed who he was.

"Good morning," she said.

The guide did not start. It was as if he had seen her come out and had known she was going to speak, though his back was toward the house.

"Mornin'," he said, in a mellow voice. "Old Sam sent me up here to help with the searchin' party."

"I'm glad," said Sylvia, eagerly. "It is my brother who is lost. Oh, tell me! do you think we shall find him?"

"Of course, miss. Sartin sure!" he exclaimed, shutting his knife with a snap and standing up. He was tall and lanky, but he had a good face, and his blue eyes seemed to look right through one.

There was an early breakfast. The guide, who was known to Mr. Russman and his son, listened carefully to a statement of what had happened, and nodded his head.

"All right," he said. "We'll try all the trails around here. Now, if you're ready, we'll start. Old Sam and the others are on the search long ago."

And so they started off once more to find the missing one.