“Yes, he found it,” said Mrs. Pry, “and he hurried right out with it. I told him to hurry so he wouldn’t be late for school.”
So Nan learned, without really asking, that Bert had not been sent on an errand by either Mrs. Pry or Dinah.
“Oh, where can he be?” thought poor Nan, as she hurried back to school with the book of poems. “What has happened to him? How can Mr. Tarton ever find him?”
CHAPTER X
A CALL FOR DINAH
How long Bert Bobbsey lay unconscious in the basement of the church he did not know. It seemed a very long time to him, but it was probably not more than an hour—perhaps not that long.
The last thing he remembered was seeing a lot of what appeared to be brightly dancing stars in front of his eyes. And he saw them even though it was very dark in the basement. This was caused when his head struck something. And Bert also remembered, as among the last things that sounded in his ears, the footsteps of Danny Rugg as he hurried out of the church.
And now, as Bert recovered consciousness, or “came to,” as it is sometimes called, he heard some one moving about near him in the basement. He also saw a light glinting about.
At first the lad thought this was Danny Rugg, and Bert felt so ill and helpless that he would have been glad of help even from Danny.
“Hey! Hey!” Bert faintly called.