After supper the two lingered for a while in the little room. Anxious to get the benefit of a good night's rest preparatory to their long tramp of the morning, it was not long before they climbed the narrow stairs to their rooms.
Five o'clock the next morning saw them eating a hasty breakfast, served by a drowsy-eyed girl. After David had stowed into a knapsack an ample luncheon for the two, and slung the knapsack across one shoulder, the little search party went forth and soon left the village behind them for the rough road that marked the beginning of their long jaunt through the forest. Having traversed it many times since his advent into that territory, David was well posted, yet he knew it no better than did Jean. The sturdy old man seemed familiar with every phase of that section. Now and again as they progressed he retailed some interesting bit of history relative to his own wanderings therein.
Noon found them more than half way to their destination, and by four o'clock they reached the camp, where Jean was introduced to Mr. Mackenzie, who had recovered from his illness and returned to his duties as overseer.
Jean discovered in the rugged Scotchman a person quite after his own heart. Previous to meeting the overseer, he had confided to David that he intended to make use of the tent which his young friend had stored with Mr. Mackenzie, and sleep out of doors. By the time supper was over, however, he was quite willing to accept the sleeping accommodations which David had made for him at the Scotchman's house.
Seated around a deep, open fireplace, in which a fire burned cheerfully, the three men gravely discussed the details of the proposed search. Mr. Mackenzie was of the opinion that it would be better to blaze new trails rather than to waste time in traveling over the ground which David and his men had so thoroughly covered. But Jean obstinately stuck to his own viewpoint and insisted on re-traveling that territory. For three days the old hunter led the young man on strenuous hikes that began with dawn and ended long after dark. During that time Jean conducted David into all sorts of forest nooks and crannies that the latter had not even glimpsed when searching about with the men of the camp. Yet never did they observe the slightest sign of the object of their search.
At the end of the week, Jean announced his resolve to invade an especially wild and lonely stretch of forest to the west. "To-morrow morning we start," he declared. "We go mebbe twenty-five, mebbe fifty mile, mebbe more. Mebbe gone a week."
"But Tom could never have gone so far away in so short a time," reminded David. "Besides, when last seen he was headed directly north."
Jean shrugged. "Mebbe he lose his way. Mebbe travel all night in storm in wrong direction. Then——" Again Jean's square shoulders went into eloquent play. "Anyway we go wes'," he stubbornly maintained.
The evening of another day saw them wending their difficult way westward, according to Jean's plan. Surrounded by a particularly dense and rugged stretch of forest growth they rolled up in their blankets and slept under a great tree. Jean assured David that they had come not more than fifteen miles, due to the difficulty they had encountered in forcing their way through the endless undergrowth, though the young man felt sure they had traveled fifty.
"I couldn't get those fellows from the camp to come over here for love nor money," remarked David the next morning, as he and Jean fried their bacon and made coffee over the fire. "They say that a wild man was once seen somewhere in this range of forest. I guess it's all talk, though. Mr. Mackenzie never saw him. He says it's a story made up by timber thieves to keep people away."