“No, sir, I didn't see Bob for nigh on an hour before I came back. Not after we got to Borton's.”
“I left him just outside the door,” I said.
“Then you seen him after I did. I was following two fellows down to the Den, you know, and that was the last I seen of Bob.”
I understood that the Den was one of the meeting-places of the enemy.
“Did you find anything there?”
“Not a thing. The two fellows went in, but they didn't come out. Another gang of three comes along and goes in, but none of 'em shows up again, and I reckoned they'd gone to bed; so I takes it as a hint and comes up here.”
“I suppose it would have done no good to wait.”
“You don't think Bob's been took, do you?”
I did feel uneasy over the absence of the stalwart scout, and but for the orders I had received for the morning I should have had my forces out to find him, or get a hostage in exchange. But as it was, I dissembled my fears and made some reassuring reply.
At the earliest light of the morning I was once more astir, but half-refreshed by my short and broken rest, and made my dispositions for the day. I ordered Porter, Fitzhugh, Brown, Wilson, Lockhart and Abrams to wait for me at the Oakland Ferry. Trent, who was still weak from his wound, I put in charge of the home-guard, with Owens, Phillips and Larson as his companions, and gave instructions to look for Barkhouse, in case he did not return. Wainright I took with me, and hailing a hack drove to the Palace Hotel.