He had not gone very far when he heard somebody calling his name.
"Rover! Dick Rover!" was the cry. "Dick Rover!"
"It must be a searching party," he thought, and he was right. The party contained Tom and Sam, and Mr. Strong, and they said that two other parties were out, one headed by Captain Putnam and the other by an assistant.
"Where in the world have you been?" asked Tom. "We have been scared almost to death over your absence."
"It's a long story," answered Dick. "What I want just now is a doctor and a lot of salve. Just look at me, will you?"
"Blisters!" ejaculated Sam. "Where did you get those?"
"In a fire that nearly burnt Arnold Baxter to death. I want the doctor for him."
And then Dick had to tell the particulars of how he had run across the cottage in the woods and of what had followed.
"And Dan Baxter is here!" ejaculated Tom. "It doesn't seem possible."
"He ought to be locked up," put in Sam.