“Where is he?”
Ned, Bob and Jerry shot these questions into the darkness as they sleepily stumbled out of the tent.
“Quiet!” commanded Jerry when he realized that it was vitally necessary to learn from which direction the call for help had come so they might go to the rescue. Bob and Ned understood and stood still, listening.
But though they could hear the restless moving of their horses, tethered not far away, there was no further call. Night insects, perhaps some of the very kind the professor had gone out to capture, made their characteristic sounds.
“What shall we do?” asked Ned in a whisper. “Something must be done and quickly.”
“We’ve got to call,” said Jerry in husky tones, after waiting what seemed to his chums a long time, though it was but perhaps a few seconds. “Let’s all yell at once.”
They raised their voices in a call that must have carried far, shouting the name of the missing man. But the echoes of the forest and plain was their only answer.
“He must have fallen and knocked himself insensible,” suggested Ned.
“But didn’t you hear what he said?” asked Jerry.