“Girls, something serious surely has happened to Emma Dean!” gravely responded Grace Harlowe. “Come, Elfreda! We must not lose an instant. You people be alert for rifle signals.”
CHAPTER X
A DOUBLE CAPTURE
GRACE started away at a brisk trot, followed by Elfreda Briggs, until they reached the bank of the creek.
“My gracious, Loyalheart, but you can race,” gasped J. Elfreda.
“Please work downstream, Elfreda. Watch carefully for footprints and broken twigs. I shall proceed upstream. About a quarter of a mile above here several deep canyons branch off, and it is possible that Emma may have taken one of these in search of flowers and lost her way,” said Grace.
“How far shall I go?” questioned Miss Briggs.
“Meet me here in an hour. Should you need me in the meantime, or, should you find Emma, fire three signal shots, with an interval between each shot. If in need of assistance I will do the same, and, should you hear three interval shots, answer them by the same signal with your rifle. That will be a warning to the camp as well. Hippy understands that, in case we give such a signal, he is to come on the run, and bring the girls with him, so that they may not be left alone in the camp. Good-bye and the best of luck.”
Grace turned and hurried up the stream, Elfreda proceeding in the opposite direction. Grace ran on until she reached the point where the narrow canyons radiated out from the one the girls had first taken on their way to the picnic ground.
A stream of clear, sparkling mountain water was rippling down each radiating canyon, and fragrant wild flowers gently nodded their greeting along the bank of the stream, from the crevices of rocks and from little patches of dirt that clung precariously to the mountainside.