e three boys.

"God bless them!" he muttered. "They knew I'd come! Why did I not come
soon enough! But where did they sail--which way--and what has become of
them?"

He turned to the grovelling native.

"You lying coward!" said he. "Take me to them now, or by the Lord you'll
swing for it! Do you hear?"

The old man wept bitterly. "My boys go, too," he wailed. "Bad mans go,
maybe so! Maybe so all dead now!"

In answer he was caught by the arm and hastened back to the gravely
waiting boat crew. It was a saddened party which reported the truth on
board the _Bennington_.

"Get under way, Mr. Cummings!" ordered Captain Stephens. "We've not lost
them yet. The writing is pretty fresh on that note. We haven't passed
them anywhere below, and they must be on their way back to Kadiak."

Without delay the _Bennington_ once more took up her course and,
emerging from the mouth of Kaludiak, headed northward up the east side
of the island. Within ten miles the sharp-eyed Aleut detected a flat bit
of beach, and the interpreter suggested that a boat be sent ashore to
examine it, as it was sometimes used as a camping-place. When the
lieutenant returned he reported that he had found poles cut not long
before and used as a shelter support. A fire had been built not more
than a week ago, in his belief. It might or might not be the
camping-place of the missing boys.

The face of Captain Stephens brightened. "Of course it's those boys!" he
said. "I tell you, those youngsters are _sailors_. We'll find them all
lined up on Kadiak dock waiting for us--and me obliged to report to
Washington that I've spent two months with this vessel hunting for them!
God bless my soul!" However, it was satisfaction and not anxiety which
caused his eyes to glisten.

Precautions were not ceased, and the boats continued to comb out every
open bay which could not be searched with the ship's glasses. Finally
they reached the mouth of Eagle Harbor, near the entrance to which the
boats discovered yet another camp-fire, probably marking the limits of
another day's journey of the young voyagers.

"Plucky little dogs--plucky!" grumbled the captain. "They're not old
women like you, Hazlett! They can take care of themselves all right!"

The interpreter stepped up. "The old man says there's a village at the
head of this harbor," he began. "Says there may be a few people living
there, though most of them have likely gone to the fisheries. He thinks
the village ou