Then he hurried away, joining the others quickly, in order that he might not hear the old gentleman's thanks or expostulations.
George, as well as Bob, believed they could find the place where the men claimed to have seen signs of oil without any difficulty, and they started out on what proved to be a vain search; for, after they had walked several hours, they were no wiser than when they started.
It was plainly of no use to search in this way, and George started back to the house for his instruments, that he might locate the spot from the directions on the paper, which he still held in his hand.
The boys, glad of a rest, waited for his return, until, after he had been absent nearly an hour, when he could easily walk the distance in twenty minutes, Bob and Ralph started in search of him, leaving Jim and Dick there in case he should return.
Mr. Simpson both astonished and alarmed them by saying that George had not been to the house since he first left it, and then they began a hurried search, which resulted in nothing. They called him by name, started Jim and Dick out even to the remote portions of the lot; but without success.
Strange as it seemed, it was nevertheless true that George had mysteriously disappeared.
CHAPTER XXII.
A CRUEL DEED.
When the boys met in the wood-lot at the spot where George had left them, after they had made the first hurried survey of the place, consternation was imprinted on every face. They knew that Harnett would not voluntarily have gone away without telling them, and an undefined but a very great fear took possession of them.