"Dead or living, I'll never rest till I know the truth!" came passionately from Bart's lips. "If he is dead, the murderers shall suffer!"
"We must throw off the feeling that anything so awful has happened. Even now he may be with the others at the yacht. While we have been searching for him, he may have returned."
Hodge caught at this eagerly.
"You are right!" he said. "Come on; we will hurry back there."
They left the glade, turning to look back as they passed on into the gloomy woods. They were glad to get away.
At first they hurried on, their hearts buoyant with the thought that they should find him waiting for them at the yacht. He would laugh at them, would jolly them because of their foolish fears. The placing of his name on the headstone of the grave was a ghastly joke, and nothing more.
In his mind Browning was thinking how he would growl at Merry for causing them so much trouble. He even thought of the words he would use.
But as they came nearer and nearer to the side of the island near which the yacht was anchored, their spirits fell again and they were beset by doubts and fears. What if they should not find Frank waiting for them when they arrived?
These doubts caused them to walk slower and slower, for they dreaded to hear that Frank was still missing.