some of the others gasped in
astonishment, and exchanged uneasy glances.

"Better wait till they all get here, boys," said Elmer, "and then I'll
tell you what we've found out, also what we suspect."

Chatz and Lil Artha could not but notice how particular Elmer was to use
the plural pronoun. But then, that was always his way. Whatever faults
the boy may have had--and the best of fellows comes far from being
perfect--selfishness was not one of them. Impatiently they waited for
the coming of the six scouts forming the last detachment. This would
increase their roll-call to sixteen, lacking only _one_ of the number
that had started out.

Presently a sight of khaki uniforms among the trees announced their near
approach.

As the two wings of the Hickory Ridge Troop of Boy Scouts came together,
there was a general exchange of badinage.

The newcomers had an intense desire to learn whether their
interpretation of the messages might excel that of the first detachment.

But in the midst of the questioning, the startling news concerning Nat
Scott's mysterious vanishing began to circulate among the newcomers.

This put a quietus on all business, and the entire troop clustered
around Elmer, begging to know what it could mean.

So the scout master, understanding just how his comrades must feel,
started in to explain, as far as lay in his power.

First of all, for the benefit of the newcomers, he told of how Nat's
disappearance was brought to his attention by Toby and Ty, just before
the coming of Matty and his group of scouts.

Then he quickly related what he and Chatz and Lil Artha had done in the
deserted buildings close by.

Presently the story was finished, and some of the boys, who had listened
with hearts beating much faster than their wont, took the first decent
breath in five minutes.

Of course questions poured in on Elmer as thick as hail stones during a
summer storm. Finding it utterly impossible to answer a quarter of these
intelligently, and make any kind of progress, Elmer called for silence.

"It stands to reason, fellows," he remarked, when the last whisper had
died away, "that we've got to have system about this thing if we expect
to do any business. Am I right?"

"Yes, yes," came from every scout; for boys though they were, they
recognized the wisdom of what he said.

"All right, then," Elmer went on. "I'm going to divide the troop into
three searching parties. We must scour the neighborhood and