CHAPTER XXIISEARCHING
Silently the boys stood in the deserted cabin. For a moment it seemed as though they had come to the end of the trail—that they were up against a stone wall, and could go no farther. They had counted so much on meeting their old friend that not to find him was something of a shock. Jerry was, perhaps, the most disappointed of all.
True, he harbored a slight feeling of resentment against the scientist for the manner in which he had acted in regard to the yellow clay—or, rather, the manner in which Jerry feared his friend might have acted.
But, the more Jerry thought it over, the more convinced he was that his mother was right, and that the professor had not been, and never could be, guilty of any mean or underhand act.
So, in a measure, Jerry was prepared to forgive Dr. Snodgrass, though, as a matter of fact, there could be no forgiveness when there had been no wrong done, and no accusation made.
“Well, he isn’t around, that’s sure,” remarkedBob, as he went outside, in the vain hope that he might see the professor coming along the trail. But there was only the whispering of the wind in the trees, and the tinkle of some distant waterfall.
“He’s probably off after some bugs,” observed Ned. “Of course we couldn’t expect to find him here. I’ll wager he’s only in long enough to get a meal, and then he hikes off again after that two-tailed lizard, a pink frog, or something equally absurd. He’s probably deep in the wilderness somewhere.”
“Then I guess the only thing for us to do is to wait here until he comes back,” suggested Jerry. “There looks to be room enough for all of us here, and we brought plenty of grub along.”
“We sure did!” chuckled Bob. He had seen to that.
“Maybe the professor’s hurt,” ventured Andy.
“What makes you say that?” asked Ned, quickly.
“Oh, I don’t know. You see, it’s so easy to get hurt, or lost in the woods—a bear might attack him, he might be bitten by a snake, his gun might go off accidentally——”
Andy was working himself up to quite a pitch of excitement.
“Here! You stow that kind of talk!” interrupted Jerry. “The professor never carries agun—he’s as harmless a hunter as a fellow with a camera. Besides, there aren’t any bears in these woods now.”
“Well, something must have happened,” insisted Andy.
“Oh, get out, you old calamity howler!” laughed Ned. “Now, fellows, we’re here, what’s to be done?”
They looked about them, “sizing up the situation.” They were in the midst of a clearing, with big trees surrounding it. The “log hut” was of very solid construction—a veritable hunting lodge in the wilderness. There were several rooms in it, a well-equipped kitchen, a living room and bedrooms. Of course there were no electric lights nor gas, for the place was far from a settlement, but there were many comforts and conveniences.
In fact, it was such a place as a hunting party, or even a gathering of men and women, could live in and enjoy for a considerable time.
“I wonder how the professor stumbled on this shack?” observed Bob, when they had looked about, and taken drinks from a nearby spring, which bubbled over with cold, clear, sparkling water.
“Oh, he probably heard someone say there was a two-tailed lizard spending his vacation up here, and he put off for it hot-foot,” venturedJerry, little knowing how near he had guessed the truth.
“Well, it’s a good place,” declared Bob. “We can bring up our things from the boat and be as ‘snug as a bug in a rug.’ We don’t want to take the professor’s grub.”
“There’s plenty of stuff, though,” said Ned, who had been to the kitchen pantry. And it did seem as though the lodge was kept stocked in preparation for visitors at any time.
“The professor never brought all this,” remarked Bob.
“No, it must have been here when he came,” agreed Jerry.
“He’d start off with a tooth brush and a collar button, after he made sure he had his nets and specimen boxes,” added Bob. “Well, come on, let’s get busy and——”
“Eat!” interrupted Jerry, laughing.
“Score one,” went on Bob. “But I’m going to watch you fellows stow away the grub. Come on, Andy, we’ll rustle it up from the boat.”
They found, on inspection, that there were enough blankets on the bunks so that they did not have to carry any of their own up from the boat. In the matter of food, too, they decided to leave part of their stock aboard theScud, and use part of what was at the cabin.
“We can pay whoever it belongs to, or makesome dicker with Professor Snodgrass,” said Jerry.
A little later they were sitting down to a comfortable meal in the kitchen of the cabin. They had cleared away the remains of food left by the professor when he started out in a hurry on one of his bug-hunting expeditions. The place was made tidy, for that habit was now second nature with the boys, and after the meal they sat about to further discuss the situation.
“Well, we’re here, at all events,” remarked Jerry, looking at his chums. “And now what shall we do?”
“Have to wait for the professor; that’s all I can see to do,” answered Ned. “We can’t learn anything, or do anything, until we see him.”
“And that won’t be until night,” observed Bob. “Might as well make ourselves comfortable until then. I’m going to try to catch some fish for supper.”
“I’ll go with you,” volunteered Andy, and the two set off for the head of the lake, where they had left the motor boat.
Ned and Jerry, with no particular object in view, wandered about the camp. It was true nothing could be done or learned until Dr. Snodgrass returned, and the boys, knowing his eagerness when he was searching for specimens, realized he would not come back until called by darkness.Even the pangs of hunger were often ignored by the little scientist.
“There’s no use trying to follow the trail, I suppose,” observed Ned, after a time, which they had occupied by looking about. They saw where the professor had left his spare nets, and where he had carefully put away his filled specimen boxes. “That is,” went on Jerry’s chum, “until there is some object in going after him.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jerry, impressed by some note in Ned’s voice. “Are you thinking of that stuff Andy talked?”
“Oh, well, you know accidents will happen,” replied Ned, a bit uneasily. He tried to laugh, but it was not much of a success.
“Huh! You’ve got ’em too!” said Jerry. “This solitary place must be getting on your nerves.”
“It is lonesome enough for that,” admitted Ned, involuntarily looking behind him, into the deep and silent woods.
Certainly the camp was not lively, but the boys were used to lonesome places.
“Here come the boys,” remarked Jerry a little later, as a crashing was heard in the underbrush along the trail.
“Maybe it’s the professor,” suggested Ned, hopefully.
“He wouldn’t make as much racket as that,”objected Jerry. “He’d be too afraid of scaring off the two-tailed lizard.”
And Jerry’s prediction was right—it was Bob and Andy returning with a good catch of fish—perch and sunnies.
“Did you see anything of the professor?” asked Ned.
“No. Did you expect us to?” returned Bob, in some surprise.
“Oh, no. I only thought you might,” was the evasive reply.
They sat about after supper, listening to the chirp of the crickets, and a few early katydids. The darkness was slowly falling and the woods were becoming more gloomy and dismal. Now and then, off in the forest, there was a crashing sound, as some dead limb of a tree fell, or a decayed monarch of the forest crashed to the ground, unable longer to repel the inroads of time.
“Guess I’ll light up,” spoke Jerry, when they could no longer see each other’s faces as they sat on a bench in front of the cabin.
“Yes, the professor will be able to see where his camp is,” said Ned. “Won’t he be surprised when he finds us here, though?”
“Rather!” agreed Bob.
They waited, more and more impatiently as the hours passed. They went inside, for the mosquitoesand gnats made life miserable outside, especially after the lanterns were aglow.
Nine o’clock came, and it seemed like midnight.
“He won’t come now,” observed Bob, yawning sleepily. “He may stay out all night.”
“That’s right, he may,” agreed Jerry. “It wouldn’t be the first time. That two-tailed lizard may only come out after dark, and the professor may have a portable camping outfit with him. He knows how to take care of himself, at any rate.”
“Then let’s turn in,” suggested Ned. “We can leave a light burning, and we’ll hear him when he comes in.”
They were all tired and sleepy, and they realized that no good could come of remaining up. So they turned in, to sleep fitfully at first, and then with the heaviness and abandon of healthy boyhood.
“Did he come?” was Bob’s first question on awakening in the morning. Jerry was up, making coffee.
“No,” was the quiet answer.
“Then we’d better hit the trail after him,” suggested Ned, as he, too, roused.
“I think so myself,” replied Jerry. “We’ll try to find him.”
And, after breakfast, they took up the search for the missing professor.