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.