It was difficult to find the path leading to the house. Groping about, she stepped into a mud hole which let her in to her shoetops. The trees along the shore were dense and overgrown with vegetation. At length she found a trail but before she had followed it very far she discovered it was leading her deeper into the brush instead of toward the house.
She turned back, and impatient at the delay, walked hurriedly, paying slight attention to the ground underfoot. Unexpectedly, she stumbled over a vine. She tried to save herself but went down, striking her body against a hollow log which lay directly ahead.
Madge cried out but it was more from surprise than pain. In striking the log she distinctly had heard from within a strange metallic sound!
She gave the log an exploratory kick with her foot. Again she heard the sound.
“Something is hidden in there,” she thought. Stooping down, she groped about the opening at one end of the log. It was clogged with leaves and loose moss which she pulled away. She boldly plunged her arm into the opening.
“Hope I don’t get it chewed off!” she chuckled.
Her hand grasped something hard.
“What in the world?” she gasped.
Then she knew. It was Anne’s missing silverware.