figure, that of the captain himself.

Merritt's first hope when he saw the two persons in the boat--namely,
that one of them might be the missing boy--was promptly dashed, and he
instinctively guessed by Rob's silence as he dropped the anchor and he
and the captain tumbled into the dinghy that there had been no news.

"No," said Rob, shaking his head dejectedly as they reached the shore,
"there isn't anything to tell. The captain is as much in the dark as
we."

"Well, you'd better have some breakfast," said Merritt, after he and
the captain had exchanged greetings, "then we can go ahead and notify
the others and institute a thorough search."

"That's the stuff, my boy," agreed the veteran. "Overhaul ship from
bilge ter royals, and if not found, then take a cruise in search uv."

Rob ate his meal with small appetite, but the captain, urging on his
young companion the necessity of "filling his hold," devoured
prodigious quantities of food, and then, arising, suggested that the
time had come to "pipe all hands aft and read orders."

The boys had been so busy about their morning tasks that fortunately
none of them, except Tubby, whom Merritt had told of the disappearance,
had found time to notice Rob's return or ask questions; so that when he
announced to them that Joe Digby was missing it came as a stunning
shock.

"Now, boys," said Rob, after he had communicated the full details, so
far as he knew them, of the circumstances of the disappearance, "there
is only one thing to do, and that is turn this island inside out. It
won't take long, but I want it done thoroughly. Don't leave a stone
unturned. If after a painstaking search we find nothing on the island,
we'll know we have to look elsewhere. You are all fairly good woodsmen
by this time, and can trail by signs as effectively as first-class
scouts. Use your eyes, and good luck."

Merritt at once assigned searching parties, he and Rob and Tubby taking
the center of the island and the others being detailed to search along
the shores in two separate squads for any trace of their missing
comrade.

"Call me a lubber if this ain't the most mystifyin' thing I've run my
bow into since the Two Janes, uv Boston, brig, lost her bearings in a
fog and fetched up off Iceland," declared the captain, who had elected
to accompany the three leaders of the Patrol. "But drown or swim, sail
or sink, we'll find that kid if he's on deck."

The searching parties construed t