“It may be that between now and morning I’ll ask you to make a little journey.”
“Looking up the hoboes?” asked Will, aghast.
“Well, hardly. This trip would be by water, and in a canoe,” replied Frank.
“Oh! I catch on, all right. You think some one ought to go back to town and let the sheriff know that his game can be found here on Wildcat Island?” said Bluff.
“Just so, but please lower your voice; there’s no telling who may be hiding in the bushes around here. Those hoboes want something we’ve got, and they mean to have it if possible. Perhaps it may be food, and, again, I’ve thought, they may envy us the possession of guns.”
“Well, I think the idea is a good one; somebody ought to go,” pursued Bluff.
“Then it ought to be you. Who can paddle a canoe better than you, Bluff? Besides, Frank is needed here on the island. Something might come up that neither you nor I could settle,” remarked Will.
“I suppose so. Let me know what you decide, Frank, and you’ll find me willing,” continued Bluff.
For answer the other simply squeezed his hand. He was considerably worried over the mysterious absence of Jerry, and realized that the game they were playing was a much more serious one than any that had as yet claimed their attention. These disreputable rascals were desperate; they had done something calculated to send them to the penitentiary for a term of years, and would try their best to avoid punishment.
“There’s one thing good, Bluff, if you do go: you won’t have to paddle along in the dark,” said Will, presently.