“Oh! I reckon Ralph is as good a hand as any ordinary scout can be,” Billy admitted. “I’ve been reading lots lately about what wonderful things those smart tracking hounds have been known to do; and, say, I’d just like to see some of it with my own eyes. But then we’ll stand back of Ralph, and help out all we can.”
Considering that Billy was not known to be much of a hand at reading signs and following a trail through brush and over hills this was very condescending on his part. No doubt Ralph would have felt greatly encouraged could he have heard the noble resolve.
Ralph at that moment was busily engaged. With Hugh he had sought the offices of the plant, thinking that the sheriff might be found there, if he were still about the buildings. It proved to be a good guess, for they did discover both the sheriff and Mr. Campertown, the latter looking more dejected than ever, which was ample proof that thus far no signs had been found of the strangely missing child.
At the entrance of the two scouts, Mr. Campertown started and looked eagerly toward them as though a sudden wild hope had seized upon him. When he saw who the newcomers were, and realized that they could not have any glad tidings for him as yet, he heaved a great sigh and sank back again in his chair.
Perhaps he and the sheriff may have been consulting on some plan. If so, they immediately put it out of their heads at the coming of Hugh and Ralph.
“Are you ready to begin on the job now, boys?” asked the officer kindly, yet with a touch of half-veiled sarcasm in his voice, as though, after all, he had grave doubts as to the lads being able to undertake the successful carrying out of such a task as now lay before them.
“We wanted to ask a few questions first, sir, and then make our start from here,” the scout master informed him.
“That sounds like business, anyway,” the sheriff observed, “and I suppose it is about the boy last being seen you want to know?”
“For one thing, yes,” Hugh told him.
“I’ll try and give you the few facts we’ve dug out so far,” said the big official. “I have two of my men who used to be on the police force in Boston working on the case. You’ll have to take care, or they’ll cut the ground out from under the feet of the scouts.”