For half an hour they walked on, and gradually the woods became more dense, making progress difficult. Suddenly it began to grow dark.
Leonard glanced at his watch.
“Great Scott!” he exclaimed. “It’s after six. I had no idea it was so late.”
He gave a shrill whistle, a prearranged signal, and the others came toward him.
“We must try and do something before dark,” he explained. “We don’t want to stay here all night, and we can’t give up the chase until we have found the girls.”
“We shall have to go more swiftly, then,” said Dick. “Back to your places, men.”
All spread out again, and the advance continued.
Suddenly Leonard spied something white in the path ahead of him. He stooped and picked it up. It was a second handkerchief. Leonard looked for some mark of identification. In a corner he found the initials “S.W.”
“We are on the right track,” he muttered to himself.
And then he stopped still.