"You take a turn that way, and I'll step into the taproom of the inn, to see if he is there," remarked Rob, who had a slight frown on his face as he spoke, as if he might not be wholly satisfied with the way in which their guide was acting.
Five minutes later Rob and Merritt joined Tubby at the same time.
"Nothing doing in my section," remarked Merritt, "except that I'm afraid somebody has swiped one of our nags, for I could only count three horses hitched there."
"Then, that settles it!" said Rob positively.
"Settles what?" piped up Tubby.
"Anthony has basely deserted us, and taken to the back road!" Rob told them. "I feared as much from what the little inn proprietor let out; but what you say clinches the thing. Our guide is a mile or more on the way back to Antwerp by now!"