“The saddle is gone!”

CHAPTER XXV

 The missing saddle

“Have you caught Prince?” Grace called this to her brother from the tent where she and the other girls had been aroused by the commotion.

“Yes, I have him.  He knew me almost at once,” answered Will.  “But the saddle is gone!”

“And the papers?” Grace faltered.

“Gone with it, I fancy.  Too bad!”

“Maybe he just brushed the saddle off,” suggested Allen, who, with Frank, had come out with a rope halter that had been provided in case the “ghost hunt” was a success.  “We’ll look around.  I’ll get a lantern.”

But a hasty search in the darkness revealed nothing.  There was no sign of a saddle.

“We’ll have to wait until morning,” sighed Will, as he tied Prince to a tree.  “Then we can see better, and look all around.  Prince, old boy, you knew me; didn’t you?” The handsome animal whinnied, and rubbed his nose against Will’s arm.

“And so you played the part of a ghost, you rascal!  Scaring the girls——­ "

“We’ll never admit that,” called Betty from the tent.

There was nothing more to do that night, after making Prince secure.  The boys ate a little mid-night supper, and from the tent of the girls came the odor of chocolate, which Grace insisted on making.  Then, after fitful slumbers, morning came.

Will was up early to examine Prince.  He found the healed cut, where the auto had struck, and there was evidence that the saddle had been on the animal until recently.  The iron stirrups would account for the sound like chains.

“The saddle must be somewhere on this island,” declared Will.  “I’m going to find it.”

“How?” asked Allen, who had made a careful toilet, as Betty had promised to go for a row with him.

“I’ll strap a pad on Prince, get on his back, and see where he takes me.  The way I figure is this.  Prince never liked to be in the open.  I’m almost certain he has been staying in some sort of shelter—­ either a cave, or an old cabin, or stable on the island.  The saddle may have come off there.  Now he’ll most likely take me right to his stopping place.  Of course he may not, but it’s worth trying.”

“Indeed it is,” agreed Prank.

After a hasty breakfast Will put his plan to the test.  Prince was fed well, and with Frank and Allen to follow, Will leaped on his pet’s back, and gave him free rein—­ or, rather, free halter, since there was no bridle.  The girls said they would take a walk around the island, looking for the saddle as they went.

Prince, after a little hesitation, started off with Will on his back.  The splendid animal headed for the lake shore, and for a moment Will was inclined to think that Prince was going to plunge in and swim to some other island or the mainland.  But Prince was only thirsty, and, slaking that desire, he ambled along the shore for a mile or so, the two young men following.