“Why, we walked out on a certain foot path we discovered after you were gone and we found a spot where they had been camping. One of them had written a bit of doggerel on a sheet of paper and tacked it to a tree. Mr. Strong says it is in Callax’s handwriting. In the doggerel he bids farewell to this neighborhood.”
“Does Mr. Strong think they have left?” asked Andy.
“He doesn’t know what to think. He wants to follow the foot path.”
It did not take the cadets long to reach the spot where Stuffer had left George Strong. Then the whole party hurried along the foot path, which ran directly through the dense woods. Here the ground was soft and they could see the fresh footprints with ease.
“I believe this leads to the lake,” said the teacher, and he was right. They soon came out on the lake shore, at a point where there was a tiny cove. Close at hand was a boat stake, and they could plainly see where a boat had been tied up and how it had been shoved off with an oar.
“They have gone,” said George Strong, and the tone of his voice showed his disappointment.
“And there is no telling where they have gone to,” added the young major.
They walked up and down the lake shore for a good distance, but saw no craft containing two men. Not far away was a small boat and this contained Will Carey, who was rowing slowly in the direction of the Pornell Academy dock.
“I suppose we’ll have to give this hunt up,” said the teacher, when it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. “Too bad! I thought sure we’d capture them.”
“Are you going back to the Chetwood cottage?” asked Pepper.