And Gordon Z. Marcus was fussed. Before he reached the two men he called aloud to them. "The girls aren't there," he shouted, "and their tent's a mess."
Orman turned and started on a run for the cook tent. "They're probably getting breakfast," he explained. But there was no one in the cook tent.
Every one was astir now; and a thorough search of the camp was made, but there was no sign of either Naomi Madison or Rhonda Terry. Bill West searched the same places again and again, unwilling to believe the abhorrent evidence of his own eyes. Orman was making a small pack of food, blankets, and ammunition.
"Why do you suppose they took them?" asked Marcus.
"For ransom, most likely," suggest O'Grady.
"I wish I was sure of that," said Orman; "but there is still a safe market for girls in Africa and Asia."
"I wonder why they tore everything to pieces so in the tent," mused Marcus. "It looks like a cyclone had struck it."
"There wasn't any fight," said O'Grady. "It would have waked some of us up if there had been."
"The Arabs were probably looking for loot," suggested Jimmy.
Bill West had been watching Orman. Now he too was making a pack. The director noticed it.