The words came from Hodge, and they were exactly what Bruce was thinking.
"No."
"Where shall we go now?"
"To the old boarding house." Away they went toward the building. It looked before them, the sunshine glinting on its windows, apparently utterly deserted. There was something forbidding in its appearance.
"We shall not find him there!"
Hodge spoke the words in full conviction that time would be wasted in looking through the building.
"Perhaps not," admitted Bruce; "but I know of no other place to look."
This was a confession that the big fellow would be "stumped" if no trace of Frank was found in the building.
They reached it, passed round to the back door by which admission had been obtained when Frank and Bruce visited it the first time, and there they hesitated.
The door was standing open.