sought to cheer him by saying
that there would be no difficulty in getting him the command of a ship;
but Bax was not cheered by the suggestion; he felt depressed, and
proposed to Guy that they should take a ramble together over the
Sandhills.

Leaving the cottage, to which the family had returned the day before,
the two friends walked in the direction of Sandown Castle.

"What say you to visit old Jeph?" said Guy; "I have never felt easy
about him since he made me order his coffin and pay his debts."

"With all my heart," said Bax. "I spent a couple of hours with him this
forenoon, and he appeared to me better than usual. Seeing Tommy and me
again has cheered him greatly, poor old man."

"Stay, I will run back for the packet he left with me to give to you.
He may perhaps wish to give it you with his own hand."

Guy ran back to the cottage, and quickly returned with the packet.

Old Jeph's door was open when they approached his humble abode. Guy
knocked gently, but, receiving no answer, entered the house. To their
surprise and alarm they found the old man's bed empty. Everything else
in the room was in its usual place. The little table stood at the
bedside, with the large old Bible on it and the bundle of receipts that
Guy had placed there on the day he paid the old man's debts. In a
corner lay the black coffin, with the winding-sheet carefully folded on
the lid. There was no sign of violence having been done, and the
friends were forced to the conclusion that Jeph had quitted the place of
his own accord. As he had been confined to bed ever since his illness--
about two weeks--this sudden disappearance was naturally alarming.

"There seems to have been no foul play," said Bax, examining hastily the
several closets in the room. "Where _can_ he have gone?"

"The tomb!" said Guy, as Jeph's old habit recurred to his memory.

"Right," exclaimed Bax, eagerly. "Come, let's go quickly."

They hastened out, and, breaking into a smart run, soon reached the
Sandhills. Neither of them spoke, for each felt deep anxiety about the
old man, whose weak condition rendered it extremely improbable that he
could long survive the shock that his system must have sustained by such
a walk at such an hour.

Passing the Checkers of the Hope, they soon reached Mary Bax's tomb.
The solitary stone threw a long dark shadow over the waste as the moon
rose slowly behind it. This shadow concealed the grave until they were
close