When the highway skirting this portion of Cayuga Lake was gained Dan Baxter was a good five hundred feet ahead of them. A turn in the road soon hid him from view. Gaining the bend they discovered that he had disappeared from view altogether.
"He has taken to the woods," sighed Dick.
"If that is so we may as well give the hunt up," answered his brother. "It would be worse than looking for a pin in a haystack, for we wouldn't know what direction he had taken."
"I wish I had a bloodhound with which to trail him. He ought to be run down, Tom."
"Well, let us notify some of the people living near and see what can be done."
They ran on to the spot where they supposed Baxter had left the highway. On both sides were dense thickets of cedars with heavy underbrush. All in all, the locality formed an ideal hiding place.
Night was coming on by the time they gained the nearest farmhouse.
Here they found three men, to whom they explained the situation.
All of the men smiled grimly.
"If he went into the woods it would be a hard job to trail him," was the comment from Farmer Mason. "If he ain't careful he'll lose himself so completely he'll never git out, b'gosh!"
"Well, I don't know but what that would suit me," responded Tom dryly.
The search was begun, and several others joined in. It lasted until night was fairly upon the party and was then given up in disgust.