“All aboard!” cried Joe. And thus they started on the trip.
CHAPTER IX
ANXIOUS HOURS
“Where are you going to head for first?” asked Blake, as he and Joe began “stowing away” their belongings, while Mr. Ringold stood at the wheel.
“For that island, where the hotel clerk said our friends went to make pictures,” replied the manager. “I know about where it is, as nearly as he could tell me, and if they’re not on the one they said they were going to, they may be on another, for there are several together.”
“Do you imagine they would be there all this while?” asked Joe, as he got out one of the moving picture cameras, for they were at a place now where some thrilling views could be made.
“It is just possible they are,” answered Mr. Ringold. “They may have landed, taken some pictures, and then something may have happened.”
“Such as—what?” asked Mr. Piper. Of late he had not made as many gloomy predictions as usual. Perhaps he appreciated what Mr. Ringold said, about there being enough trouble without adding to it by needlessly looking on the dark side.
“Well, their boat may have gone adrift in the rising waters, and they may have been forced to remain on the island,” went on the theatrical man. “And there has been so much confusion and suffering out here, that their appeals for help, in case they could make any, may have gone unheeded.
“So I think we’ll head for that island, and see if we can get any clews. It is a sort of forlorn hope, but that is the only starting point I can think of. How is she running, Blake?” he asked, for Blake was attending to the motor, while Joe focused the camera.
“Fine,” answered the young engineer. “She’s a powerful engine, all right.”