"Solomon ought to be back," cried Bart, starting up.
"That's so," said Captain Corbet.
"I'm afraid something's happened. He's been gone too long. Two hours were enough."
The boys all looked at one another with anxious faces.
"If he went up that shore," said Bart, "he may have got caught by the tide. It's a very dangerous place for anybody—let alone an old man like him."
"Wal, he did go up thar; he said partic'lar that he wanted to find somethin of a relish, an would hunt up thar. He said, too, he'd be back by nine."
"I'm certain something's happened," cried Bart, more anxiously than before. "If he's gone up there, he's been caught by the tide."
Captain Corbet stared, and looked uneasy.
"Wal, I must say, that thar's not onlikely. It's a bad place, a dreadful bad place,—an him an old man,—a dreadful bad place. He'd be down here by this time, ef he was alive."
"I won't wait any longer," cried Bart. "I must go and see. Come along, boys. Don't let's leave poor old Solomon in danger. Depend upon it, he's caught up there somewhere."