“Very strange,” said the doctor, and turning to the men he questioned them in turn, with the result that all were sure that they had not seen the Spaniard since over-night.
The doctor and the two lads stood gazing at one another for some minutes in silence.
“Do you think anything could have happened to him?” said Morny at last.
“Oh no,” cried the doctor sharply. “He’s too much at home here in these wild parts for that.”
“But I was thinking, uncle—” said Rodd, in a hesitating way.
“Thinking of what, my boy?”
“That there might be some few crocodiles up here in this narrow part of the river, after all.”
“Absurd, Rodney! Don’t jump at conclusions like that!” cried the doctor.
“But they are such horribly fierce creatures, uncle.”
“Don’t be absurd, sir! Is it likely that one of those reptiles could have come up out of the river, crawled into the tent, and dragged him out again, without some one knowing it? No; he must have got up early and gone off by himself somewhere, as this is as far as we were to go, meaning to see if he could find the traces of a chimpanzee, so as to show us one or more before we start back.”