"No. I believe Frank was selected out of our party as the one to get out of the way. He was determined to solve the mystery of this wretched island, and he was the leader of our party. The ruffians fancied that they would put an end to all trouble by getting him out of the way, for they fancied we would run at once." Browning grunted, and Hodge went on swiftly and fiercely: "By the eternal skies, they made a big mistake! I'll not leave this island till I know what has happened to Frank Merriwell, or I am dead!" "Nor I," nodded Bruce. "I'm with you, old man." "If he has been harmed," Bart went on, "the wretches who did the dirty work shall suffer! I swear it!" "I'm another." "We will bring them to justice!" "Or kick the bucket trying." They shook hands on it, and they were in deadly earnest. They decided not to return to the yacht by the path, but to go over the island and through the woods. Thus, by chance, they followed almost directly in Frank's footsteps. As they drew near to the dark woods, Browning felt a tightening at his heart--a sensation similar to that he had once before experienced as he stood beside the lonely grave in the dark glade. He sought to throw it off, but could not do so. "Come," he said. "Which way?" asked Bart. "This way." He seemed to feel something drawing him toward the grave in the glade, and Bart followed without another word. Unconsciously the big Yale man stepped softly, as if he feared to alarm somebody or something. The moss beneath his feet gave no sound. Not even a twig snapped. Without knowing that he did so, Hodge imitated Browning's stealthy manner. The wind soughed through the pines and cedars in a fitful manner. There seemed to be strange rustlings in the air. At the edge of the glade Bruce halted. There was the grave, with the gray headstone. He stood there staring at it. Somehow he was possessed by a feeling that the grave had something to do with the vanishing of Frank Merriwell, although his reason told him that such a thing was folly. "What is the matter?" Hodge almost whispered the question, for he was beginning to feel the uncanny air that overshadowed the place. "There is the grave," said Bruce. "What grave?" "Why, the one we told you about--the grave of the Boston man who disappeared in such a mysterious manner. It is supposed that he was murdered on this island and buried there." Bart shivered. "You act as if you half expected to see another grave beside that one," he muttered. "Not so soon." "But to-morrow----" "If Frank has been foully dealt with, the villains have not been given time to make another grave. His body is hidden somewhere. But I will not believe anything of the kind has happened. We shall find him somewhere--alive and well." "We must!" Bruce remembered the strange whispering they had heard there when he and Frank visited the place, and now he listened, half expecting to hear it again.