"Hunt up MacDonald, probably."
"And I'll run down and take a look at the work."
As they left the house the engineer nodded down the road. MacDonald was coming.
"He has saved you the trouble," he said. "Remember, Aldous—nine o'clock sharp!"
A moment later Aldous was advancing to meet the old mountaineer.
"They've gone, Johnny," was Donald's first greeting.
"Gone?"
"Yes. The whole bunch—Quade, Culver Rann, DeBar, and the woman who rode the bear. They've gone, hide and hair, and nobody seems to know where."
Aldous was staring.
"Also," resumed old Donald slowly, "Culver Rann's outfit is gone—twenty horses, including six saddles. An' likewise others have gone, but I can't find out who."