seem like a
part of the forest itself. Greatly to her dismay, old Jean was not to be
found. Nora, Hippy, Elfreda and herself made a trip to the cabin only to
find it locked. On a bit of paper tacked to the door, appeared the
laboriously written notice: "Gone way June 2. Come back som day."

It was a tragic downfall to the new hope that Grace had been confidently
nursing, and it took all the fortitude she could summon to recover even
in a measure from her bitter disappointment. Where to look for Jean she
had not the remotest notion. She knew only too well that "som day" was
quite likely to mean next winter. Jean was one of those rare persons who
can follow the dictates of his own pleasure. The whole woodland universe
was his to roam at will. His life-long communion with Nature had taught
him to supply his simple wants with the ease with which the prehistoric
denizens of the forest had attended to theirs, and life was to him one
glorious succession of light-hearted wayfaring.

Every now and then, however, he would descend upon his lonely cabin,
laden with the spoils of the chase, which found a ready market in
Oakdale. After one of these jaunts he was always sure to find plenty of
work awaiting him, for aside from his prowess as a hunter, he was a
veritable Jack of all trades whose services were always in keen demand.

J. Elfreda Briggs was also downcast over the fact that her suggestion
could not be immediately carried out. Determined not to be balked, she
asked Grace's permission to mail "personals" addressed to Jean to a
number of newspapers published in various large cities of the United
States. But these notices brought no reply from the old hunter, who, it
seemed, had vanished from the busy world as completely as had Tom Gray.

In the meantime the Wingates, Elfreda and Grace made it a point to
institute a vigorous inquiry throughout Oakdale, in the hope of finding
someone who could give them some definite information regarding where
Jean had gone. From several persons who had talked with the old hunter
before his departure, they learned only that he had announced his
intention to go away on a long expedition, but had neglected to state
what part of the country he intended to traverse.

Contrary to Mrs. Gray's and her own expectation that the news of Tom's
unexplained dropping-out of his own particular world of friends and
acquaintances would create disturbing gossip, Grace was supremely
touched by the sympatheti