"They was at the lighthouse all right; but they left there about half-past seven, in all that 'ere wind and rain. There wasn't any one at the lighthouse but a little gal, a niece of the keeper; an' she says the smaller of them, that's Johnny, said they must try and git home, and that, if they didn't, they'd come back to the lighthouse: and so they s'posed they was home all right."
"What houses are there about?" inquired Pierre; for Mr. Le Bras seemed unable to speak.
"There ain't none on this road, nor a barn; an' how they could a got away from the road in the storm, an' over the stun walls with their bicycles, I don't see nohow. There's that house, way over yonder; that's the nearest house to this 'ere road: now, 'pears to me they couldn't a got there without flyin' over all them walls."
"If they came this road, they couldn't have got into the water," said Pierre: "I shouldn't wonder if they made their way clear to the end down by the other cottages."
"That may be," said Mr. Le Bras: "let us go right down there. You can go home, Oliver, and Pierre and I will continue the search. If Mrs. Le Bras comes down before we come back, tell her—indeed, what can you tell her? I must try to be back myself. Let us make haste, Pierre!"
Mr. Le Bras and Pierre made inquiries through the whole row of cottages, with all the haste possible; but no one had seen or heard of the missing boys. As they returned home, along the shell road, Mr. Le Bras was silent. He was pale, and walked rapidly. Pierre tried to think of some bright probability regarding Felix and Johnny; but although it seemed unlikely that they could have perished, like the babes in the wood, in a single night, he could picture no place of refuge which they had not searched. The farmhouse only was left; but, as Oliver had said, it would have been next to impossible for them to go across lots and over stone walls to any definite place, that dark and stormy night. Still, he finally suggested to Mr. Le Bras that he might hurry over there and inquire.
"No," replied Mr. Le Bras: "we will go home first, and inform my wife; it cannot be kept from her any longer. And then you and I and Oliver will scour the region in different directions. If nothing serious has happened to the boys, however, they will make their appearance themselves before long. What I am afraid of is that they have been overcome by fatigue and exposure, having been out all night, and are now lying helpless somewhere in the fields or woods."
When they reached the cottage, they entered the front-door. Just then the breakfast-bell rang. Mr. Le Bras paused in the hall to compose himself for the sad task before him. He took off his hat, and wiped his forehead: he tried to look cheerful and unconcerned. Mrs. Le Bras came tripping down-stairs with Sue, in the best of spirits.
"What a lovely morning after the rain!" she said. "How blue the sky and water are! How cheerful the cottage looks! What a delicious sea-breeze! What an appetite we shall have for your blackfish! Isn't it a lovely place, my dear?"
Mr. Le Bras suppressed a groan: he turned away his face, but she did not notice. Sue ran ahead to the dining-room.