"Thank you, Mr. Ferguson, I certainly will. Perhaps I may need to do it to-morrow."
In the evening our hero walked into the hotel, and, stepping up to the desk, inquired if Mr. Grey was in.
"He has gone away," was the answer.
"Gone!" exclaimed Gilbert, in manifest dismay, for that possibility had not occurred to him.
"Yes—he went away yesterday afternoon."
"Do you know where he went? From what depot?"
"I cannot tell you. He didn't take a carriage, but walked. Probably he went home."
"Will you let me see his name on the register?"
The book was placed before him, and Gilbert, finding the entry of his uncle's name, saw opposite it, "St. Louis, Mo."
"So he lives in St. Louis," thought our hero. "It won't be hard to find him, then. His name is probably in the directory. I must go at once to St. Louis. This business ought to be attended to at once."