“It’s no use hunting when it is so dark,” Andy informed him.  “We might as well look for a needle in a hay-stack.  I move that we wait until morning.”

This suggestion was carried out, and while most of the men went back to their homes in order to get something to eat, Jasper made his way to the Haven.  Mrs. Peterson met him at the door and her face bore a worried expression.

“Have you found him?” she enquired.  “We have been so uneasy.”

“No,” was the reply.  “We must wait until morning.  It is no use groping about in the dark.  Where is Betty?”

“She’s in Mr. David’s room.  I am so anxious about her.  She has been crying and wringing her hands ever since you left.  I cannot tell what has come over the girl.”

“She is fretting about David, no doubt.”

“Yes, that may account for some of her grief,” and Mrs. Peterson’s eyes rested thoughtfully upon the floor.  “But there’s something else troubling her, mark my word.  She’s been nearly frightened to death over something, and the way she sits and shivers at times is hard for me to stand.”

“But won’t she tell you what’s the matter?” Jasper asked.

“I have asked her over and over again, but she always shakes her head, and falls to sobbing and moaning worse than ever.  Poor child, I feel so sorry for her.”

“It is strange,” Jasper mused.  “May I see her?  Perhaps it is only the excitement that is troubling her.”

Betty’s face brightened somewhat as Jasper entered the room.  This was for only an instant, however, and then she buried her face in her hands and sobbed as if her heart would break.

“Betty, Betty, what is the matter?” Jasper asked.  “Tell me what is worrying you?”

“It’s about Mr. David!” she moaned.  “He’s lost and I’m sure he’s dead!”

“But we hope to find him,” Jasper soothed.  “Just as soon as it is light enough we are going to continue our search for him.  He must have wandered away into the woods, and no doubt we shall soon find him.  There is something else troubling you, is there not?  Won’t you tell me what it is?”

But the girl shook her head, and try as he might Jasper could not induce her to talk.  She was determined to remain obstinately silent.

There was but one person to whom Jasper felt he could turn for assistance, and that was Lois.  He had thought of her before, and wondered if she had heard the news of David’s disappearance.  He felt that it was unlikely as no one would think of carrying the news there.  As he stood for a few minutes looking upon Betty who was sitting before him the very embodiment of abject misery, he believed that Lois was the only one who could comfort her, and perhaps induce her to reveal the cause of her unusual state of agitation.  Telling the girl to be brave, and to keep up hope for David’s safe return, he left the Haven and hastened down the road toward the main highway, and then took a short cut across the field toward the Sinclair house.  Far off in the east light was breaking above the horizon, and he knew that in a short time the search would again begin for the missing man, and he must be there.