"We've got to each of us take a village, presently, enter it and search,"
replied Captain Jack. "With only one of us to each village, it will be
tough luck if each one can't find some one who has enough food to sell
a little of it."

"How soon are we going to start?" asked Eph, hopefully.

"Well, supper time will be the best time to go through the villages,"
decided the young submarine skipper "If Millard has taken refuge with
anyone who lives in one of these villages, he'll be more likely to show
himself at supper time than at any other."

"It won't take long to look into each of the houses," muttered Hal.
"There aren't many in any one of the villages."

"If we don't espy our man at table," Captain Jack went on, "we'll have
to try other means of finding him out. You two will know what to do
when you're on the ground. If Millard is anywhere in the village that
you go to look through, don't fail to find him--that's all."

Jack chose, for himself, the northernmost village. Hal took the next
one, and Eph the southernmost.

"Now, remember, fellows," breathed Benson, sharply, as they parted,
"the one great thing is not to fail!"

The night was dark and the sky overcast as the submarine boys parted to
go their several ways.

"I think I can understand how Eph feels about his stomach," grimaced