"Where in thunder kin they be!"
Abner and Royden were standing on the bank of the shore looking up and down in an effort to locate the berry pickers. They had been over the island, and had now come back to where Billy was lying upon the sand. Not a sign of the women and children could they see, and Abner was somewhat anxious.
"Surely the spooks haven't carried 'em off," he continued. "I've heard people tell about strange sights an' noises in this place, but I allus laffed at 'em. Mebbe they was right, though."
Royden was standing upon a rock looking keenly down river.
"Do you suppose they're in that old barn out on that stretch of lowland?" he asked.
"What would they be doin' there?" Abner enquired, as he, too, turned his face in that direction.
"Perhaps they've gone in out of the sun. Children like to play in old barns. I did, anyway, when I was a kid."
The barn to which Royden referred was on a narrow strip of marsh land, which ran for some distance out into the river. Hay was stored here until it could be hauled to the mainland in winter. It was an old weather-beaten building, and had been much battered by the flowing ice in the great spring rush.
"Surely they wouldn't be in a place like that," Abner mused, as he stood looking at the barn. "But ye kin never tell what notions women an' kids'll take, so it's jist as well to investigate."
Royden at once offered to go, but Abner detained him.