"It must mean that a friend is interested in our welfare," replied Grace. "Whoever and whatever he may be, his advice is good, and here we stay until we find Hippy. I am going out right after breakfast and make an effort to pick up the trail. Surely the outlaws, or whatever they are, will not be waiting all that time for us to follow them. I will make a quiet scout. I do not look to be interfered with, for they surely will have gone away by now."
"Shall I call the girls and tell them? The knowledge that a helping hand has been held out to us surely will comfort Nora," said Elfreda.
"Yes. I will rout out Washington and have him start the fire. It has been a trying night and I am glad it is at an end," replied Grace.
"I knew it," cried Emma Dean when she learned what had taken place. "I didn't con-centrate for nothing."
"You what?" frowned Elfreda.
"I have been con-centrating all night long—con-centrating on Hippy to call him back to us."
"Oh, you darlin'," cried Nora, throwing her arms about Emma.
"I should advise you to continue to 'con-centrate,'" suggested Anne. "If you were to stop now you might break the mental string; then we should lose Hippy for good."
"You just wait. You'll see whether or not he comes back," retorted Emma indignantly.
Nora's face was flushed that morning and her heart was filled with a new hope—the hope that Hippy might be with them before the close of that day.