" asked Ned of Jimmie.

"No; I looked for them, and one of the marines told me they had gone on
ahead. I'm goin' out an' dig 'em up!"

"You'll make a sweet fist of digging them up in this man's town, at this
hour of the night," the consul declared, anxiety showing on his face.
"You'll have to leave them, Mr. Nestor," he went on, "and I'll rake the
city with a fine tooth comb but I'll find them."

Ned hesitated. There was the cablegram on the table. A delay of an
hour or two might not prove serious, but this search for Frank and Jack
might occupy days, if not weeks!

It was inconceivable that the boys, disregarding all instructions from
the Captain and all warnings from Ned, should have stolen off into the
city for a night ramble. They both knew how much depended on the party
keeping together and keeping prepared for action.

"They must have had some reason for leaving the camp," Ned said, after a
long pause. "They never would have gone away without some object other
than amusement, or love of adventure in their minds."

Captain Martin went to the door and stepped out into the main office,
facing the marines.

"Boys," he said, in as matter-of-fact tone as he could assume, "what did
Frank and Jack say when they left the camp?"

Nine of the men looked up in wonder, but the tenth hastened to answer
the question.

"Not a word," he said. "I was on guard, and I saw a young chap come
into the little bit of light there was about the old house where we were
stopping."

"Who was it?" Ned interrupted.

The marine shook his head.

"I didn't ask him who he was," he said. "He asked where the boys were,
and said he was a Boy Scout from Boston, and wanted to see some one from
home. I knew that the lads would be as glad to see him as he would be
glad to see them, and showed him where they had bunked down in a little
dog-house of a shack just outside the house."

"And they went away with this fellow?" asked Ned, anxious to get the
story in as few words as possible. "Why didn't you notify the officer
then in charge of the squad?"

"I didn't think it was necessary," was the reply. "Well, the kid went
to the shack where Frank and Jack were, and I saw them talking together
there for a few minutes. Then I saw the three of them pass through the
circle of light, walking toward the city, and that's all I know about
it. I wasn't under orders to tell them when to go, or where to go, or
when not to go. It wasn't for me t