"I am positive he is harmless," declared Merry. "Where is he, Abe?"
"I don't know now. A while ago he just rushed off, calling and calling, and he's not come back."
Frank looked alarmed. "He promised me he would stay near the camp. He gave me his word, and this is the first time he has failed to obey me implicitly in everything."
"It was a mistake bringing him here, Frank," asserted Hodge.
"But what could I do with him? He wouldn't remain behind, and I knew the danger of leaving him there. Any day he might escape from the valley and lose himself in the desert to perish there."
"Perhaps that is what will happen to him now."
Merry was sorely troubled. He made preparations to go in search of Worthington without delay. But even as he was doing so the deranged man came running back into the camp and fell panting at his feet.
"I have found you again, my ghost!" he cried. "They are after you! You must beware! You must guard yourself constantly!"
"Get up, Worthington!" said Merry. "I am in no danger. No one can hurt a ghost, you know."
"Ah! you don't know them--you don't know them!" excitedly shouted the lunatic. "They are wicked and dangerous. I saw them peering over those rocks. I saw their evil eyes. Abe was asleep. I had been walking up and down, waiting for you to return. When I saw them I stood still as a stone and made them believe I was dead. They watched and watched and whispered. They had weapons in their hands! You must be on your guard every minute!"
"I have heard about crazy bedbugs," muttered Wiley; "but I never saw one quite as bad as this. Every time I hear him go on that way I feel the need of a drink. I could even partake of a portion of Easy Street firewater with relish."
"You must come and see where they were--you must come and see," he urged.
"Never mind that now," said Merry. "I will look later."
"Be still!" commanded Merry sharply. "I can't waste the time."
But the maniac continued to plead and beg until, in order to appease him, Merry gave in.
Worthington led him to a mass of bowlders at a distance, and, pointing at them, he declared in a whisper:
"There's where they were hiding. Look and see. There is where they were, I tell you!"
More to pacify the poor fellow than anything else, Frank looked around amid the rocks. Suddenly he made a discovery that caused him to change countenance and kneel upon the ground. Bart, who had sauntered down, found him thus.