"Missing!" cried Dave, and put down the volume in his hands. "What do you mean, Ben?"
"They are missing—isn't that plain enough? They went for a row on the river this afternoon, and they have not come back."
"Why, we met them at Bush Island," and Dave explained the occurrence. "Maybe I'd better tell Haskers," he added, and hurried off.
He found the assistant teacher in the office, considerably worried. That evening he and the doctor were to have gone over some school matters that needed attention. The non-return of the master of the Hall was therefore good cause for alarm.
"What do you want, Porter?" he asked, coldly, for he had not yet forgotten the quarrel in that very room some months previous.
"I understand Doctor Clay and Mr. Dale are missing, Mr. Haskers."
"Well?"
"I only wish to tell you that Phil Lawrence, Gus Plum, and I were out rowing this afternoon and we went to Bush Island, and there we met the doctor and Mr. Dale, who had come in a rowboat."
"Indeed! Did they say anything about coming back?"
"No, sir. We left them there, gathering geological specimens."
