Lisle nodded.
“Put me up enough bread and fish for two of us for two days.”
He moved away with Nasmyth, and they had left the fire behind when he spoke, his voice hoarse with anger.
“Gladwyne’s gone to the cache! He’s got half a day’s clear start of us and he knows the country. It’s pretty open and he’ll make quite a good pace on a straight trail, while the river bends. Get the stuff I asked for while I give the others a few instructions.”
“You mean to start after him at once?”
“As soon as you’re ready,” Lisle said shortly.
He turned back toward where the others were sitting waiting for supper.
“As Gladwyne hasn’t turned up, Nasmyth and I are going to look for him,” he announced. “There’s nothing to be alarmed about, but it’s quite likely we may not be back in the morning. If we don’t turn up by noon, you had better start down-river and we’ll pick you up farther on. I don’t want to waste another day.”
“Do you think he has got lost altogether?” Millicent asked anxiously.
“No,” answered Lisle, in a reassuring manner. “Still, some of these ridges are bad to climb and quite a lot of things may happen to delay him.”