“No, sir,” answered Bob firmly; “you come along here.”
Eventually they reached the mess tent and found Jerry awaiting them.
“Have you seen Dan?” they asked.
“Dan?” repeated Jerry, looking about as though that youth might be hidden under the wagon or the trestles. “He ain’t here. Have you lost him?”
“We left him an hour ago and he promised to be around here, but he didn’t say where. I thought maybe he was with you,” answered Nelson. Jerry shook his head again.
“No, he ain’t here.”
“Well, we’ll wait awhile. Maybe he’ll turn up if he hasn’t got lost.”
But he didn’t, and when the strains of the band reached them from the big tent Tom refused to sit still a moment longer.
“Come on,” he said impatiently. “He’s got his ticket. Maybe he’s in there now. We’re missing half the fun.”