“Have any of you seen the professor?” he asked, and his voice was a bit troubled.
“The professor?” asked Ned. “Why, he was here a while ago, making notes to beat the band.”
“So I saw,” spoke Jerry. “Then I noticed him get up to go for a drink of water. He didn’t come back, and I went looking for him. He isn’t on the train, as far as I can find, and we haven’t made any stops since.”
“Could he have fallen off?” asked Bob, uneasily.
“By Jove!” cried Ned. “It would be just like him. He may have gone on the platform, seen a rare bug, and in reaching for it lost his balance and fallen off. I wonder——”
But Ned did not continue. At that instant the train came to a sudden stop with a grinding of brakes—such a sudden stop that nearly everyone in the car was thrown from his seat.
“An accident!” yelled Bob.
“We’re going to smash!” cried Ned.
“Something has happened to the professor!” came from Jerry.
“Maybe it’s a hold-up!” ejaculated Jim Nestor, and this time he drew from his hip pocket something shining. Harvey Brill followed his example.