"Will you authorize me to find you a place, Mr. Nixon?"
"Yes."
"Then I will go out at once and see what I can find. You should not stay here another night."
"Come back soon," said the old man.
He had already come to value the company of his young companion, and felt that he should miss him, even for a short time.
Gerald took his hat and went out. He bent his steps toward the store of Joe Loche, feeling that he should there be more likely to obtain the information of which he was in search. He had already called there, like Ralph Nixon, to inquire the way to the cabin of the old man.
"Mr. Loche," he said, proceeding at once to business, "is there any comfortable house vacant in the village?"
"Yes," answered the storekeeper. "There is a four-room house, which was occupied yesterday but is vacant to-day."
"Who owns it?"
"I do. I bought it, furniture and all, from Jim Morris, who has made his pile, and is going back to his old home in New Hampshire."