CHAPTER VII.

THE LOST CHUM.

Uneasiness increased as the shadows of night began to fall around them; and the motor boat boys cast many anxious glances toward the gloomy patches of mangroves along the shore, as well as the denser sawgrass, dwarf palmetto and trees that covered the mainland.

"I don't like this at all," Jack finally declared. "We've shouted enough for any one with ears, within half a mile, to have heard us."

"And never had a peep from Josh, that's a fact," declared Nick, whose cheeks had lost some of their customary color, in the face of this mystery; for he was very fond of the absent chum.

"Whatever could have happened to the lad?" asked Jimmy.

"It seems hard to believe that he could have lost himself, and wandered so far away that he couldn't fire his gun, or hear us yell," Herb observed, frowning.

George plucked at the sleeve of Jack, as he remarked in a low, nervous tone:

"Now, you don't believe _they_ could have had anything to do with our chum's disappearance, do you?"

"What in the wide world are you speaking about?" demanded the other, startled for the moment by the grave way in which George said this.

"Why, you know, that queer lot in the boat that was a ringer for the _Tramp_," was what George added, quickly.

"Oh! come now, what put that silly notion in your head?" asked Jack; though at the same time he could not but weigh the startling proposition advanced by George in his mind, and find himself impressed more or less by its possibility.

"I suppose," George went on, "because, for the life of me, I just can't imagine any other reason why the fellow wouldn't do _something_ to let us know he was alive. If he discovered that he was lost, I'm dead sure Josh would have sense enough to holler, and fire his gun several times in succession."

"And we never heard the first sign," declared Herb.

"Well, I've just stood it as long as I mean to," declared Jack.

"Yes; let's get busy and do something," George burst out with, for he was ever an impetuous fellow, eager to be accomplishing things, and getting to his intended goal by a short-cut, if possible.

"Jack, say what, and we'll stand by you," Herb spoke up, with a look of grim determination on his face.

"Them's my sentiments!" affirmed Jimmy.

"Say the word, and we'll all back you up, Commodore!" Nick put in, puffing his cheeks out, and looking very fierce--for him.

"Well, there's an old saying, you remember," Jack remarked, "to the effect that if the mountain won't come to you, the next best thing is to go to the mountain. And if Josh hangs fire about returning to camp, why, some of us have got to get a hustle on, and look him up. That's plain enough, I hope."

"It sure is; and we expect you to be the one to lead the rescue party, Jack," George declared.

"All right; and as there's no time to be lost, let's get busy. Somebody has to stay here, and guard the camp; and I appoint Nick as the fellow to take that duty on his shoulders."

When Jack made this declaration, Nick started, and seemed to shiver a little; but, realizing that all eyes were turned toward him, he braced up again.

"Oh! all right, Jack, just as you say," he expressed himself.

"Understand," Jack explained, seeing that the fat boy felt hurt; "it isn't because there's any doubt about your courage and all that; but none of us can say how far we may have to tramp, or what swamps we'll have to wade through; and you admit, Nick, that you're not fitted for campaigning in that line as well as some of the rest of us."

"Sure, I know that," said Nick, heaving a sigh.

"But," continued Jack, as though he had had a second thought, "as three of us ought to be enough, I guess I'll leave a second guard behind. Herb, would you mind staying, to keep Nick company? It's just as much a post of honor as going with George, Jimmy and myself. And you'll have to keep watch all the time."

"Oh! I'm ready to do just what you say, Jack. I believe you know best; and while of course I'd rather be with the hunting party, count on me holding up the other end with Nick here," Herb hastened to declare.

"Then that's settled," Jack went on, relieved to find that his plans were meeting with next to no opposition. "Of course you'll have your gun, while each of us will go armed; for there's no telling what we may meet up with. I'll take the rifle, while George and Jimmy have the scatter-guns."

"Yes, and if you find Josh, how will you let us know?" Herb asked.

"I'll fire six shots at regular intervals of about two seconds apart. Be sure to count them carefully if you hear any firing, because in case we meet up with a prowling panther, or anything like that, the shooting would be more rapid."

When Jack mentioned that one word "panther," it might have been observed that Nick's mouth opened, as if sudden dismay had seized hold upon him. However, once more he summoned his nerve to the fore, and shut his teeth hard together. It was Herb, fortunately, who advanced the proposition that must have been buzzing in the brain of the more timid Nick.

"After you've gone, Jack, perhaps it would be just as well for Nick and myself to go aboard the boats, and hold the fort there. We'll make sure to keep the fire burning all the while, so you'll have a signal on the shore, to tell where we are. Is that right, fellows?" he remarked.

"Best thing you could do; and I was just going to say something like that," was the way Jack put it.

George had made haste to secure the guns, and each of the three now held a weapon in his hands. They looked very warlike and grim, as the camp-fire shone on the polished steel; and Nick could, after all, be pardoned for showing signs of excitement as they prepared to start off. For Nick was in the main a peaceable lad, who liked not strife under any conditions.

"Perhaps we'd better give one more halloo before we go?" suggested George; for the idea of tramping into that mysterious wilderness, with its swamps and unknown perils, was not to be treated lightly as a picnic, by any means.

So they all raised their voices, and sent out a series of whoops that might have made any Indian warrior envious.

"Listen!" cried Jack, after this had gone on for a full minute.

The last echo had died away, and complete silence followed.

"Never a thing!" exclaimed George.

"Oh! hark! what is that?" cried Nick, eagerly.

"Only an owl far away, answering us," Jack declared, promptly.

"Must think we're trying to give him the laugh," Herb remarked; although he was feeling in anything but a joking mood, with the strange disappearance of Josh weighing on his mind so heavily.

"Come on, boys," Jack called out. "I've got the lantern lighted, and we'll try our luck following his trail as long as we are able to see it. Oh! and Herb, if you and Nick want, you might as well eat something while we're gone."

"Nixy for me," Herb made answer. "My appetite seems to have gone up the flue. But we could be cooking something, in case you found Josh, and all came in hungry."

"Sure, that's right," Nick hastened to add. "It'll give us something to keep our minds busy, and that means a whole lot. Good-bye, boys; and the best of luck!"

"We sure hope you find our chum, safe and sound," Herb added, feelingly.

"One thing more," Jack went on to say; "If Josh should happen in while we're gone, you'll want to let us know."

"That's right; I hadn't thought of that," said Herb.

"Then listen. Fire both barrels of your gun, about two seconds apart. Then repeat the volley twice more, making six shots in all. We'll understand what you want to tell us, and that we're needed here. That's all. Come on, George and Jimmy."

Nick watched them pass away, and the face of the fat boy told that his soul was troubled. Yet it was not so much of himself he thought, but the strange mystery hovering over this vanishing of Josh.

Jack knew where the long-legged would-be hunter had last been seen, and accordingly he made direct for that spot.

Evidently he had no especial trouble in discovering the tracks left by the heels of Josh's shoes, for those left behind saw the trio move directly away. Soon the flitting glimmer of the moving lantern vanished entirely among the thickets covering the land in places.

Josh had headed down the shore when he went forth to try and add to the camp larder by knocking down a bunch of the tasty little snipe and other shore birds, flocks of which were seen whenever the tide changed, and the mud flats became partly bare.

That meant he had gone west, for the boys had fallen into the habit of saying "down" as long as they were headed south; and until they turned up the coast it would continue that way.

Jack led with his lantern, and carrying the rifle in his other hand. For some little time the three boys kept on this way. When the tracks became harder to see, Jack used his judgment, and managed to pick up the trail again every time.

All the while George and Jimmy were casting uneasy looks ahead. The moon being past its prime, would not rise for some time; and as a consequence all was pitch darkness around them. It was easy to imagine all sorts of perils lurking in that gloom beyond. Every simple little sound, such as a stray 'coon scampering away at the coming of the swinging light, caused them a new quiver.

George could not get that strange motor boat out of his mind. He believed that it had left Miami ahead of them, for it was gone on the morning after their arrival. And the chances were that it had come down here ahead of them.

Having more or less of a vivid imagination, George was picturing all sorts of strange things as happening. He even looked back along the career of their chum, Josh, trying to figure out some romantic reason for these people on the strange craft to want to kidnap the long-legged youth.

Despite his best efforts, however, this was pretty much a failure. There never was a fellow with more of an ordinary every-day past than the said Josh. George had known him since they were kids together, first starting in to school. His father was one of the substantial men of the town; and, so far as George knew, there had never been even the faintest rumor of anything singular attaching to the Purdue family.

So George, baffled in this respect, had to give it up, and confess himself altogether at sea. But if Josh had simply gone and lost himself, then why had he not answered their shouts?

They had now been following the trail of the missing chum quite some time, and found themselves at a considerable distance from camp. Every now and then, apparently, Josh had made his way to the shore, to find out whether there were any flocks of birds in sight; but as he still kept moving on, he evidently met with disappointment.

That he continued to wander on was evidence of a determination to find some sort of game. Josh was not much of a hunter, and he did hate to be unmercifully guyed by Jimmy and Nick, whenever he came back empty handed.

"It can't be long now, before we make some sort of discovery," George finally remarked.

"I agree with you," Jack said, over his shoulder.

"How far are we from camp now, Jack?" continued the skipper of the _Wireless_.

"Perhaps a mile, more or less," answered the pilot of the expedition.

"But not so far as to be beyond the sound of the yell we put up, eh?" continued George.

"Unless Josh suddenly became stone deaf, he must have heard us," replied the other.

"See here; you've got something on your mind; why not share it with us, Jack? You're bothered about something, too. If it don't take in those queer acting fellows on the power boat, what does ail you?" and George caught hold of his chum as the other arose from examining the trail once more.

"Oh! I don't know as there could be anything in it," Jack admitted, slowly, as if loth to air his secret fears.

"But tell us what you do think, even if it does seem impossible, Jack."

"Only this, that if our chum chanced to slip into some muck bed, he might have been sucked down in the slimy stuff before he could even shout for help," was the gruesome remark to which Jack gave utterance.