“Mr. Lawrence has left the island!” Chot exclaimed, and again Hoki nodded.

“He said tell young gentlemens take much possession, and he will either return or come back before long,” said the Jap, gravely.

In spite of the fact that they were surprised at the sudden turn of events, the boys were forced to laugh at Hoki’s quaint methods of speech.

“I understood he was not to go away until to-day,” said Chot.

Hoki shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

“I hesitate to express myself,” he said; “at same time, must have been to-day when he left, sirs, for clock had some time past chimed midnight.”

“That’s so,” said Tom. “It must have been three o’clock at least when we were up the last time. Er—Hoki, did your master leave in a motor-boat?”

“I am pleased to explain to you that he did,” was the Jap’s reply.

“I heard that boat,” said Fleet. “The chug-chug of the engine woke me up. I don’t know what time it was but it must have been getting on toward morning.”

Then Fleet caught a significant look from Chot, and said no more.

Breakfast was eaten in silence, save for desultory comment on what they were going to do during the day. There was plenty of fishing tackle in the lodge, they knew, and Fleet and Pod decided that they would try and land some of the denizens of the St. Lawrence.

“Hoki, can you go fishing with us?” Fleet asked, as the Jap come into the diningroom again, bearing a large platter of pan-cakes.

“I will take pleasure in accepting of kind request,” said he. “I be fine fisherman—sometimes,” and he grinned broadly.

Tom and Chot decided to paddle around the island in their canoes, while Bert elected to stay at the lodge and read, as Mr. Lawrence’s library held forth great temptations.

“I’ve had enough paddling for sometime,” he said, “and I’m going to take it easy for a day or so.”

That is the way matters were arranged for the day’s pleasure, and about nine o’clock, Pod and Fleet, having selected what tackle they needed from Mr. Lawrence’s plunder room, went off to the other end of the little island, about a hundred yards distant from the lodge. Hoki went with them.

Chot and Tom got into their canoes and paddled along the shore in the shade of the trees, taking care to keep within easy distance of the lodge.

The last the boys saw of Bert he was stretched out in a hammock on the shady side of the verandah, with one of Victor Hugo’s volumes in his hand.

Finally, having paddled around to the end of the island, and teased Fleet and Pod because, as yet, no fish had taken their hooks, Chot and Tom decided to cross the intervening space of a quarter of a mile to another island, which looked cool and inviting with its massive shade trees and short, green grass.

As they went they glanced up at the lodge and saw Bert still in the hammock; but one hand was extended over the side now, and in this he held the book.

“Asleep!” said Chot, and Tom nodded, smiling.

“It’s drowsy weather. He’d have felt much better to have come with us.”

“Well, he didn’t think so, and everyone to his own taste,” Chot replied.

Reaching their destination, the boys drew their canoes up on the bank and lay down on the soft grass. They had a plain view of the front of Winnsocket Lodge, as well as of the boys fishing on the end of the island.

“This wouldn’t be a bad spot for a camp,” said Chot, as he let his glance roam around. “If Mr. Lawrence returns before we are ready to leave the islands, we can come over here and pitch our tent.”

“That’s a good plan,” said Tom. “It would surely be comfortable out in the open here.”

“Say, it’s funny, isn’t it?” mused Chot.

“I don’t see anything funny.”

“Well, queer, then.”

“What’s queer?”

“Why, the way Mr. Lawrence left the lodge?”

“In the motor-boat, you mean?”

“Not that so much, but why didn’t he wait till daylight?”

“I couldn’t say, Chot; it’s too much of a problem for me. What were the noises in the night? Had Mr. Lawrence anything to do with them? What this and what that? One might go on asking questions forever, but finding the answers is another matter.”

“Well, he must have had urgent reasons for leaving at that time of night. No man wants to have his sleep disturbed to take a journey that can just as well be taken by daylight.”

“Then I suppose this was a journey that couldn’t be taken by daylight.”

They were still discussing the matter of their host’s disappearance, and the strange noises of the night, when they were startled by a yell from Bert, and turning their gaze in the direction of the lodge, saw him start up from the hammock and stand for an instant in a listening attitude. Then, looking over toward them, he beckoned to them in such a vigorous way that they knew he meant come at once. As they pushed their canoes into the water and jumped aboard, they saw him dash madly into the lodge.

Fleet, Pod and Hoki had heard the cry, and dropping their fishing tackle, they, too, rushed toward the lodge Pod leading by several lengths.

“Something wrong, sure,” said Chot, between clenched teeth. “A little faster, Tom; we may be needed.”

The other boys reached the lodge first and disappeared within just as Chot and Tom were pulling their canoes up on the island. When they had negotiated the slight rise and entered the building, there was no one to be seen.

Fleet came perspiring out of the basement a moment later, followed by Pod and Hoki. Their faces were white and they were shaking in every limb.

“What’s the matter?” Chot demanded, seizing Fleet’s arm and shaking him violently.

“It’s—it’s Bert,” was the reply.

“Well, what about him? Where is he?”

“We don’t know; we can’t find him. Did you hear him cry out?”

“Yes; and we came as quickly as we could. He must be in the lodge.”

“No,” said Pod, firmly; “he isn’t. We’ve searched it from top to bottom.”

“Well, you searched too hurriedly then. Come, Tom; let’s see if we can find the meaning of all this.”

“Surely; he’s bound to be here. Let’s go into the basement first.”

“All right. Are the lights on below, Hoki?”

“Yes, sirs; all on,” was the Jap’s reply. “We find them on when we return to lodge.”

“You found them on?” Chot exclaimed.

“Yes, sirs.”

“Shows, then, that Bert went below. Come on, Tom. You other fellows can come or not, as you chose.”

“No, no,” said Hoki, with a shudder. “I not care to go—I know—I know! You go, sirs; Hoki stay behind.”

The boys exchanged glances. The Jap was visibly frightened, and it occurred to Chot and Tom that perhaps he knew more about Winnsocket Lodge than he cared to tell.

“I’ll go with you,” said Pod.

“Well, you stay with Hoki, Fleet,” said Chot, winking significantly, and the fleshy lad nodded. He knew that wink; it meant, “And watch him, too.”

It was as Hoki had said; the lights were all on in the basement. They were controlled by a little button at the head of the basement stairs, and Bert, if he had rushed suddenly below, could easily have turned it. Either this was what had happened, or it had been turned on by other parties before Bert entered the lodge.

The boys could not prevent a creepy sensation from possessing them, as they moved slowly down the stairs into the big cellar. A breath of cool air met their nostrils as they reached the foot of the steps and glanced about them.

“Bert—oh, Bert!” Chot called. His voice echoed and re-echoed through the place, but there was no response.

“That strange,” said Tom.

They explored the cellar from one end to the other, but no trace of their missing chum was found. They searched diligently for a secret door, though where it could possibly have led had they found it, they could not imagine.

“Well, there’s no use staying down here any longer,” said Chot. “Bert has disappeared, that’s all, and, very likely, of his own free will.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Pod, with a dubious shake of the head.

“Well, I don’t see what could have happened to him,” said Tom.

“There’s no way to tell what has happened unless we can first decide just why he cried out, then dashed so hurriedly inside,” said Chot. “He was excited—that we know—and the most natural surmise is that he heard someone rummaging about the basement.”

They returned to the first floor of the lodge, and found Fleet and Hoki eagerly awaiting them. From the expression on Fleet’s face they knew that nothing unusual had happened while they were below.

The top story was then gone over, with the same result. Either through his own volition or by some means which the Comrades were unable at present to fathom, Bert Creighton had mysteriously disappeared.

“I knew you wouldn’t find him,” said Fleet. “He’s just gone—that’s all—vanished into thin air. I don’t know what we’ll ever say to his folks.”

“Oh, shut up with that sort of chatter,” said Chot, severely. “You make me tired! Nothing serious has happened to Bert.”

“Then where is he?” demanded Fleet, his voice quivering with suppressed excitement.

“That’s what we’ll have to find out. We can’t do it in a minute; we’ve no Sherlock Holmes among us. This much I know, though: No matter how unnatural this may seem, it has happened in a perfectly natural manner, and we’ll find a way to solve it.”

“Well, you’ve more confidence in your solving abilities than I have,” said Fleet.

“You’re scared—that’s what’s the matter with you.”

“I’m not!”

“Oh, very well; deny it, if you want, but we’ll draw our own conclusions, just the same.”

Fleet subsided at this, and the boys seated themselves on the verandah to await lunch which Hoki said he would prepare at once.

The mystery of the lodge did not interfere with their appetites, and they continued to discuss Bert’s disappearance as they ate. They tried to make some connection between the noises in the night, Mr. Lawrence’s departure in the motor-boat, and the disappearance of their chum, but, try as they might, they could form no plausible connection.

They decided to leave the lodge no more until the mystery was solved, so they hung around all the afternoon, half-expecting Bert to make his appearance and explain away the things that perplexed them. But supper-time came, and no Bert.

At six they ate again, Hoki preparing a meal fit for a king. They were living off the fat of the land, so to speak, and had Bert been with them, they would have been perfectly happy.

After dinner they sat on the verandah and watched it grow dark—not without a feeling of dread, though, it must be admitted. All sorts of things might happen in the lodge under cover of darkness. They knew not what to be prepared for, but something seemed to tell them that above all places, the basement was the one spot to keep their eyes on.

“Hoki,” said Chot, suddenly, when the Jap had finished the kitchen work and joined them on the verandah, “are there any guns about the place?”

“Oh, yes, sirs; as many as six, sirs. Would you have them delivered?”

“Where are they kept?”

“In my master’s private chamber, if you please, sirs.”

“Then lead the way to them, Hoki. Come, Tom! The rest of you stay here till we return.”

They followed the Jap into the lodge, and, true to his word, Hoki found a case containing six revolvers in Mr. Lawrence’s apartment.

The boys appropriated them all, loading them carefully, and placed an extra supply of cartridges in their pockets. Tom and Chot took two revolvers each, dividing the other two with Fleet and Pod, together with cartridges and orders to keep the weapons handy for instant use.

The revolvers gave the boys a certain feeling of security that had been absent before, and they were just settling comfortably down on the verandah when they were startled by a voice from the river. Somewhere between Winnsocket Lodge and the island to the south a man or boy was in deep trouble. They could tell that from the mournful tones which reached them.

“Help, help!” said the voice. “Come quick! Help, help!”