After some further talk it was agreed that the first step would be to return to the car. Then they would decide upon what to do next. "I think we should visit that old tavern while we are here," remarked Paul. "No knowing what we might find there. If there's an old shovel or anything, we might come back and dig under that rock for a starter." Phil and Dave also had their theories as to what should next be in order, but nothing conclusive was determined on. Meanwhile the three, threading the trail Phil had first followed and which Dave and Paul had made more distinct, they finally reached the clump of shade trees where they had left Billy on guard over the Big Six. But in the place of the glistening car with Billy Worth still on guard there was only a vacant place. No glimpse of either was anywhere to be seen. "Look here--on the ground," exclaimed Paul, pointing here and there. "Somebody else has been here! Looks as if there had been a scuffle!" Where Paul was pointing there were signs of many footsteps, inextricably intermingled, with sundry deep gouges in the loose soil as if those who made them were in a struggle of some kind. "Look here, boys!" Dave was holding up a soiled handkerchief that he had found underneath a jumble of twigs and leaves evidently kicked together by those engaged in the scuffling, signs of which were more than plentiful. "By jimminy! That's Billy's handkerchief or I'm blind!" Sure enough, it was Billy's, for in one corner were his initials which the boys had often seen on many of his belongings. Phil meanwhile had been taking a comprehensive survey of the whole scene. Presently he noted that while the struggles had gone on mostly in one spot, there were, at one side, clear markings of the car wheels as it was steered in a semicircle towards the very road along which the boys had traveled not more than an hour or so before. "Boys," said he, "I hate to acknowledge it, but Billy must have been surprised by somebody. Probably outnumbered, too. These tracks show that Billy must have put up a good fight; but they were too many for him, whoever they were. Come on! We've no time to lose!" And straightway he began following the tracks through the straggly undergrowth until he reached the road. The others, catching the significance of Phil's suspicions, plodded after, taking in as they went where the car, avoiding the more open spaces, had plunged through the thicker growth. Evidently those on board were bent on gaining the road by the nearest route, and at a point somewhat beyond where the car had turned off when the boys first reached that place. To the right was the old tavern, and at one spot the car had stopped where there were signs that a path had been crushed out in traveling through the brush towards the tavern. "Look here," said Phil. "What does this mean?" The signs were plain that something or someone had been half dragged or carried along towards the old Ghost Tavern.