Gretchen went toward the openings where Mrs. Woods had so suddenly and strangely appeared. But no one was there. She wondered what the secret of the mysterious episode could be. She returned to the lodge, but said nothing about what she had seen. She passed a sleepless night, and resolved to go to see her foster-mother on the following day.
So, after school the next afternoon, she returned to her old home for a brief visit, and to gain an explanation of the strange event of the evening before.
She found Mrs. Woods very sad, and evidently troubled by some ominous experience.
"So you saw me?" was her first salutation. "I didn't dare to come any further. They did not see me—did they?"
"But, mother, why did you go away—why did you come to the lodge?"
"O Gretchen, husband has been at home from the shingle-mill, and he has told me something dreadful!"
"What, mother?"
"There's a conspiracy!"
"Where?"
"Among the Injuns. A friendly Injun told husband in secret that there would be no more seen of the log school-house after the Potlatch."