"Don't know," returned Nan.
"I saw them go off that way." Jack waved her hand toward the west. Ran went a short distance and gave the call. Then he waited. There was utter silence save for the trickling of the little stream. Again he called but there was no response. "Where can they be?" he said impatiently. "They ought to know better than to act so. I suppose they think it is funny to pretend they don't hear." But in a little while, he feared that it was not pretense, and that they were really not only out of sight but out of hearing. He did not voice his alarm to the girls, however, but, after whistling softly for a few minutes, he walked away, calling to his brother.
"See here, Ashby," he said, "I'm afraid those two have strayed away and have lost their bearings. Because they have been up here a number of times, they think they can find their way anywhere. Now, don't express any surprise when I propose that you drive the others home. I'm going to stay here and you go back and tell Colonel Lewis what I fear. Get fresh horses and come back. I'll wait here in case Phil and Mary Lee find their way back. It will be all right."
Ashby agreed and the two came back to where the others were waiting. "Phil's playing us a nice trick," said Ran in assumed contempt, "and it's time you girls were starting home. I'm going to send you back with Ashby and I'll wait here for the others. I'll hide so they can't see me. Won't they be good and scared?"
"But how will you all get back?" asked Nan.
"Oh, Ashby's coming back for us. It isn't much of a drive and Miss Sarah will be worrying. As soon as it gets a little darker, Phil and Mary Lee will hurry out to the road fast enough."
"You don't——" Nan glanced at the twins who had clambered into the carriage. "You don't think," she repeated in a low whisper, "that they could be lost."
"Nonsense," returned Ran. "They'll be here in a minute, only it isn't worth while to wait for them and they deserve a good scare."
Nan looked at him steadily. She was not quite sure that he was not alarmed for the safety of the missing two, but he smiled confidently.
"It's all right," he insisted.