“If Sage hadn’t messed things up!” muttered Rodney Grant, as if speaking to himself. “What was the matter with him, anyhow?”
“Where is Sage?” asked Stone, looking around. “I don’t believe he came in from the field. Here, Shea, go bring Sage.”
Piper touched Ben on the arm.
“Don’t bother to send for him, captain,” he advised.
“Why not?”
“You won’t find him out there. He’s gone.”
“Gone—where? Why——”
“I don’t know where,” said Sleuth; “but he’s gone. Here are his field clothes just as he dropped them. He didn’t even stop to put them away.”
Astonishment was plainly revealed in Stone’s face.
“I don’t understand it,” he finally said in a low tone. “I can’t see why Fred should desert us like this. What will we do if——” He checked himself abruptly.