"Well if that big Doright was telling the truth," Frank argued, "the boys got out of the cabin and were safe last night. How about it?"
"You can't tell anything by what that fellow said," Tom replied. "He just saw that we were worried about the boys and wanted them to be safe, so he said they were safe. That's all there is to that."
"He's considerable of a child," Jack announced. "They all are."
During this time Rowdy had been circling the spot where the cabin had stood, occasionally sending up a doleful howl.
"Watch Rowdy," Tom declared. "If he isn't an indication that something happened here last night, I'll miss my guess."
"Well, I don't believe that what you mean did happen," Jack contended. "If it was so, Doright would have acted differently. He was very composed when we saw him and that bluff he put up about this being his farm showed that he knew where the boys were all the time."
"Then what do you suppose happened to them?" Tom's voice broke.
"I don't know. They're around here somewhere. Of that I'm sure. They are not far away," Jack stoutly contended.
"What do you think Frank?" was Tom's almost tearful query.
"I think we'd better not make up our minds until we get some better evidence than a smell or a negro's word. Let's keep digging."