But in his heart he knew that it would not be so, and the shiftless one knew that he had no confidence in his own words. “If not,” said Henry, resolved to see the better side, “we'll stay anyhow until we find him. We can't spare good old Long Jim.” Shif'less Sol did not reply, nor did Henry speak again, until lie saw the bushes moving slightly three or four hundred yards away. “There comes Tom,” he said, after a single comprehensive glance, “and he's alone.” Tom Ross was also a dejected figure. He looked at the two on the hill, and, seeing that the man for whom they were searching was not with them, became more dejected than before. “Paul's our last chance,” he said, as he joined them. “He's gen'rally a lucky boy, an' mebbe it will be so with him to-day.” “I hope so,” said Henry fervently. “He ought to be along in a few minutes.” They waited patiently, although they really had no belief that Paul would bring in the missing man, but Paul was late. The noon hour was well past. Henry took a glance at the sun. Noon was gone at least a half hour, and he stirred uneasily. “Paul couldn't get lost in broad daylight,” he said. “No,” said Shif'less Sol, “he couldn't get lost!” Henry noticed his emphasis on the word “lost,” and a sudden fear sprang up in his heart. Some power had taken away Long Jim; could the same power have seized Paul? It was a premonition, and he paled under his brown, turning away lest the others see his face. All three now examined the whole circle of the horizon for a sight of moving bushes that would tell of the boy's coming. The forest told nothing. The sun blazed brightly over everything, and Paul, like Long Jim, did not come. He was an hour past due, and the three, oppressed already by Long jim's disappearance, were convinced that he would not return. But they gave him a half hour longer. Then Henry said: “We must hunt for him, but we must not separate. Whatever happens we three must stay together.” “I'm not hankerin' to roam 'roun jest now all by myself,” said the shiftless one, with an uneasy laugh. The three hunted all that afternoon for Paul. Once they saw trace of footsteps, apparently his, in some soft earth, but they were quickly, lost on hard ground, and after that there was nothing. They stopped shortly before sunset at the edge of a narrow but deep creek. “What do you think of it, Henry?” asked Shif'less Sol. “I don't know what to think,” replied the youth, “but it seems to me that whatever took away Jim has taken away Paul, also.” “Looks like it,” said Sol, “an' I guess it follers that we're in the same kind o' danger.” “We three of us could put up a good fight,” said Henry, “and I propose that we don't go back to that camp, but spend the night here.” “Yes, an' watch good,” said Tom Ross.