he's right here. Thunder! He was at my elbow a
moment ago. I scarcely took my eyes off him."

"He isn't here now!" rang out Jack's voice. "He has disappeared! He is
trying to hide in these thick bushes. Scatter and search for him! If you
see him running, shoot at his legs! Stop him somehow!"

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE VOICE IN THE NIGHT.

The excited lads beat the bushes in vain. Caleb Cooler had disappeared
in a moment, as if the ground had opened and swallowed him. It seemed
impossible that he could give them the slip in such a manner, but he
had.

At last four very disgusted and angry boys stopped in a little opening
and looked at each other.

"We are a set of chumps!" declared Hodge.

"That's so!" grunted Browning.

"Ought to have held onto the snake all the time," came savagely from
Diamond. "Oh, if we had him here now!"

"Yaw!" gurgled Hans. "Uf we had him here now he vouldn't done a thing to
us!"

"I feel like crawling into a hole," growled the big Yale man.

"So do I," nodded Hodge; "but I don't know where to find a hole small
enough. What fools we are!"

"Yaw!" again gurgled Hans. "Vot fools you vos!"

"But I'm hanged if I can understand it," said Bruce. "How did he do it?
That is what I want to know."

"He was within reach at one moment and gone the next."

"Let's search again."

They did so, but the time was spent in vain. They were close to the
rocks which rose above the ground in the vicinity of the quarry, but it
seemed an utter impossibility for anyone to hide amid those rocks.

They decided to remain in the vicinity and watch for Mr. Cooler,
thinking he was in a place of hiding near at hand, and he would be
forced to show himself sooner or later. Having decided on this, they
scattered somewhat, but were within call of each other. Then they
settled down to watch for the man in gray.

It became ominously silent there amid the cedars and pines, save when
the fitful wind made a rustling. Once a squirrel was heard chattering in
the distance.

An hour passed, and then Diamond could stand it no longer. He called
them together and said:

"Fellows, while we remain idle here, those villains may be completing
the work of putting Merriwell out of the way. I think we are wasting our
time."

"So do I," said Hodge.

"Und I vos some more," put in Hans.

Then they decided to scour the island. If hidden near at hand, Cooler
knew they were watching for him, and it was not likely he would