"'Oo's none here. Havena set eyes on him sin'---- Didn' yo' go out tegither?"--to Jack.
"No, I d'n know when he went."
"Where can th' lad ha' gotten to now? 'Oo's aye gett'n' i' mischief o' some kind."
"We'll go along to Seth Rimmer's, Mrs. Lee. He may have gone down there," said Eager.
"'Oo mowt," she admitted unhopefully. And they set off in the windy darkness, with the roar of the sea and the long white gleam of the surf on one side, and on the other the fantastic hummocks of the sand-hills, which looked strangely desolate by night and capable of holding any mystery or worse.
Eager had wanted the children to wait at Carne till he returned, but they would not hear of it. Gracie was enjoying the spice of adventure. Jack wanted to find Jim. Eager himself was beginning to feel anxious, though he would not let the others see it.
"If he is not here--where?" he asked himself, as they ploughed through the sand and the crackling seaweed. And he had to confess that he did not know where to look next. The grim desolation of the sand-hills made him shiver to think of. Suppose the boy had damaged himself in some way and was lying there waiting for help. A thousand boys might lie there unfound till help was useless.
A glimmer in the distant darkness, and presently they were at Rimmer's cottage.
Kattie opened to them--both the door and her big blue eyes--and stood staring.
"Hello, Kattie! Is Jim here?" asked Eager cheerfully.