Bert bent his brows in a puzzled frown. It certainly did seem a little queer.
"He must be close by somewhere," he said slowly. "He can't have vanished into the thin air. Perhaps the porters or the train men have seen something of him."
With a growing sense of uneasiness they went from car to car, but the mystery remained unsolved until they reached the engineer.
"Sure," replied that worthy, "I know who you mean. He was talking to me alongside the engine here."
"How long ago?" asked Bert, anxiously.
"O, it must be all of two hours," was the reply. "I remember it was just a little while after the train stopped. When he left me he started up that road," pointing to the path beside the track. "Said he was going to stretch his legs a little."
"Two hours ago!" exclaimed Bert.
"And not back yet!" cried Tom.
The boys looked at each other and in their eyes a great fear was dawning.
"O, I guess he's all right," said the engineer, "though he certainly was taking chances if he went very far. Things are rather risky around here just now, and it's good dope not to get too far away from the train unless you're pretty well 'heeled' and have got some friends along."