Mr. Hampton nodded.
“The grass is so beaten down, too,” he said, “that if there were anybody out there, we could see him. However, I cannot rest easy without making a search. Now, you three boys remain in camp and keep watch. The rest of us will take care of the search.”
To this the boys made no objection. As a matter of fact, it was one time that exclusion from activity did not irritate them. They had no stomach for what they might discover. Frank and Jack, especially, thinking of the terrible affair on the island in the lake, kept silence. Bob protested, but more as a matter of form and because he considered manliness demanded it, than otherwise.
Mr. Hampton shook his head.
“None of us want to do this, Bob,” he said. “It has to be done, however. But I certainly don’t want you boys along.”
The three men, revolvers clasped in their hands for use in case of emergency, set out, while the boys watched from the trees. Keeping close together, they quartered the plain, going far beyond the beaten down stretch of grass left by the passing of the reindeer herd. Presently, the boys saw them return, and with a sigh of relief, Jack said:
“Well, thank goodness, that’s over.”
Mr. Hampton’s spirits were considerably higher on his return, as the boys could see by his features.
“Nobody anywhere,” he reported, “and we made a thorough search, too.”
“More thorough than there was need for,” said Farnum, grumpily.