"He will probably be there unless he loses his way."
Leaving Mark to return by the same way he came, we will precede him, and make acquaintance with the man who had excited the grocer's curiosity by inquiring for the old hermit.
Old Anthony lay on his pallet waiting for the return of Mark.
"I like the boy," he said to himself. "He has an honest face. He looks manly and straightforward. He has never joined the other village boys in jeering. If my nephew had been like him he might have been a comfort to me."
The old man sighed. What thoughts passed through his mind were known only to him; but that they were sad ones seemed clear from the expression of his face.
Time passed as he lay quiet. Then he heard a noise at the door and the step of one entering the cabin.
"Is that you, Mark?" he inquired.
There was a pause. Then a harsh voice answered: "No; it isn't Mark, whoever he may be. It is some one who ought to be nearer to you than he."
Old Anthony started in evident excitement, and by an effort managed to turn round his head so as to see the intruder.
His eyes rested on a man rather above the middle height, shabbily clad, with a dark face and threatening expression.