Bert did not complete the question, and then said, “We weren’t looking for you to come from that direction. We thought perhaps it might be Ben.”
“Ethan sent me over to a man he knew a little farther up the river. I’ve started him out to look, too. That’s the reason why I came from that direction. Ethan suggested that I should bring some breakfast over for you, but I didn’t think you’d want any. I knew I didn’t, anyway.”
“Nor do we,” said Bob. “What are we to do now, Jock? Isn’t there something we can do?”
“Ethan told us to stay here in camp till he came. He says he’ll be here by noon, and then if he doesn’t learn anything, we’ll decide whether we’d better telegraph home or not.”
Jock’s voice broke as he spoke, and his evident anxiety was shared by the other boys. The end would soon be at hand, but before Ethan’s return there was nothing for them to do but to strive to possess their souls in patience and wait. Working would have been much more easy for them all, but there was nothing they could do. They dared not venture forth from the island for fear of losing their way in the tangled maze, but they paced back and forth along the shore, peering eagerly out over the river for the boat which still did not come.
About noontime Ethan returned to camp, but he had found no trace of the missing Ben; and when an hour later Tom returned, he also had the same disheartening report to make, for neither had he seen any one who knew of the lost boy.
CHAPTER XII.
THE MISSING CAMPER.
Ethan beckoned to Tom, and together they at once began to prepare dinner. The boys noticed their proceedings, but in spite of the fact that they had had no breakfast, none of them took any interest in the boatman’s task. They did not leave their position on the bank, and still stood looking out over the river, vainly watching for the coming of a canoe which as yet had not appeared.