I'll hurry on home and put up my team and git the lantern and
come back and help you."
And Mr. Marston, who meant well, whipped up his horses, and his wagon
rattled down the road as he hastened homeward.
CHAPTER VII.
AN ALARMING DISCOVERY.
By this time the searching party began to realize the difficulties in
the path of their success.
If, as was believed, or rather hoped, Nellie had fallen asleep in the
woods, they were liable to pass within a dozen feet of where she lay
without discovering the fact. Should they call to her, or should Nick
emit his resounding signal whistle, she might be awakened, provided only
such a brief space separated them, but the chances were scarcely one in
a thousand that they would be so fortunate.
This view, at the worst, was a favorable one, and behind it rose the
phantoms that caused all to shudder with a dread which they dared not
utter.
Only a short distance farther they came upon another path which diverged
from the side of the road, returning a little ways beyond. There, an
unusually careful search was made, and Nick almost split his cheeks in
his efforts to send his penetrating whistle throughout the surrounding
country. The three men also called out the name of Nellie in their
loudest tones, but nothing except the hollow echoes came back to them.
Nick examined the face of his father's watch by the light of the lantern
he carried, and saw that it lacked but a few minutes of nine.
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