“I don’t know,” Jerry frankly admitted. “It looks suspicious, and the way Blowitz acted made it more so. Maybe the shadows deceived us, and the man did not fall, for the cloud over the moon made things black. But it will do no harm to take a look, and then we’ll be satisfied.”
“If we find him, what will we do with him?” asked Bob, who had a habit of looking ahead.
“Let’s find him first,” said Jerry. “Maybe it is some man who works for Blowitz, and who would not do just as his boss wanted him to. Blowitz can get angry very easily, as was proved by his actions when we refused to make that trip. Maybe he hit the man in a fit of passion, and the man cried out in surprise, and ran away.”
The sky was more cloudy now, and the moon was oftener obscured by masses of dark vapor. Still, there was light enough for the boys to make out landmarks, and distinguish objects when they came near the low cliff, on which they had seen Blowitz and the other man.
“There’s the place,” called Ned suddenly, from his position near the wheel.
“That’s right,” admitted Jerry. “Better put us in near that rock where we talked to Blowitz. We can fasten the boat there and go ashore. There’s no swell in here.”
In a short time the three boys were on the rocky shore. Jerry carried a lantern and Ned had a coil of rope, as he thought if the man had fallen over a cliff, and was unable to help himself, they might need a line to hoist him up.
“Go easy now,” cautioned Jerry, as they moved forward. “We don’t want to send out notice that we have arrived. Blowitz may still be sneaking around.”
As cautiously as possible they advanced. They found there was a rough path leading from the beach up the cliff, on top of which the two men had stood. With Jerry, holding the lantern to guide them, Ned and Bob followed. They paused now and then to listen, but the only sound they heard was caused by the waves of the Pacific breaking on the rocky shore, the rattle of the pebbles on the beach, and the soft swish of the seaweed.
“It was right over there that he seemed to fall,” said Ned, pointing to indicate where he meant.