CHAPTER XIX
Missing
"Hanged if I can wait about for the moon to rise, Jack. It will be two mortal hours before it's much use to us," declared Bobby Beverley. "Game to carry on at once?"
"Right-o," assented Villiers; "but I'm afraid we won't do much. Can't see your hand in front of your face, so to speak. Wish we had a good dog here."
"We'll try with the Aldis," rejoined Beverley.
"Right-o," agreed his chum for the second time. "Let's get a move on."
From the store they procured an Aldis lamp and battery. The lamp, primarily intended for flashing signals (it was powerful enough to enable a message to be sent over a distance of five miles in broad daylight), could be used as a miniature and portable searchlight, although the weight of the case containing the cells was considerable.
"Perhaps," suggested Villiers, as the two men plunged into the coco-palm groves, "perhaps the young blighter's taken it into his head to scale one of the peaks and can't find his way down."
"Hope not," replied Beverley. "Dashed if I fancy climbing a thousand feet or so of lava rock. 'Sides, he must have heard us shouting all over the show."
"Possibly," admitted Villiers. "But he might not be able to let us know."