“Perhaps they didn’t think we’d be back so soon,” said Phil, “and have planned their own affair, whatever it is, to last as long as ours.” “O, they must have known,” said Bruce, “that we’d be back to-day. Aspotogon is only a few miles. In fact we ought to have been back yesterday, in time for tea, by rights.” “Where in the world could they have gone to?” said Arthur. “O, fishing, of course,” said Tom. “But they ought to have been back last night.” “O, they’ve found some first-rate sport.” “After all,” said Phil, “there wasn’t any actual reason for them to come back. None of us are in any hurry.” “Yes; but they may have got into some scrape,” said Bruce. “Such a thing is not inconceivable. It strikes me that several members of this party have already got into scrapes now and then; and so I’m rather inclined to think that the turn has come round to Bart and Pat.” “What I’m inclined to think,” said Arthur, “is, that they’ve gone off in a boat for a sail before breakfast, and have come to grief somehow.” “Well, if they tried a sail-boat, they were pretty sure of that,” said Tom. “Yes,” said Phil; “neither Bart nor Pat know anything more about sailing a boat than a cow does.” “At any rate,” said Bruce, “they can’t have fallen into any very serious danger.” “Why not?” “There hasn’t been any wind worth speaking of.” “Neither there has.” “But there was some wind yesterday morning,” said Arthur. “It carried us to Aspotogon very well.” “Pooh! Such a wind as that wouldn’t do anything. A child might have sailed a boat.” “O, I don’t know. That wind might have caught them off some island, and capsized them.” “I don’t believe that wind could have capsized even a paper boat,” said Phil; “but still I’m inclined to think, after all, that they’ve met with some sort of an accident in a boat.” “I don’t believe it,” said Tom. “They couldn’t meet with any kind of accident. My opinion is, that they went off fishing, kept at it all day, got too far away to think of coming back last night, and so very naturally put up at some farm-house, where they have by this time eaten a good, rattling breakfast, and are on their way back, walking like the very mischief.” “The most natural thing in the world too,” said Bruce. “I quite agree with Tom. It’s just what any other two of us fellows would have done. In the first place, they backed out of the Aspotogon expedition very quietly, so as not to make a fuss, then they went off’, and, as Tom says, got too far to come back; though whether they’ve had such a tremendous adventure as ours at Deep Cove with the shark is a matter that has yet to be decided.” This first allusion to the shark was received by all the party with a solemn smile. “Well,” said Arthur, “I believe they’ve taken to a boat. Perhaps they’ve gone cruising about.” “But they couldn’t have been capsized.” “No.” “Then how do you account for their absence?”