said that he hoped
our life together would always be one long Golden Summer. I'm not going
to let winter overtake me now when my Golden Summer's hardly begun. This
is just a brief cloud that hides the sun. It will pass and we'll all be
happy together again. Just because our plans have all gone awry is no
sign that they always will. Postponing our wedding day doesn't mean
saying good-bye to happiness. It's only a brief postponement of
happiness, too."

CHAPTER XII

THE BETTER PART

Although Grace had so sturdily asserted her claim on happiness,
nevertheless she quailed secretly before the ordeal of writing to her
friends regarding the change in her plans. Long she pondered before
committing the gloomy information to paper. More than one anguished tear
fell from her eyes as she relentlessly pursued her difficult task. Not
so very long ago she had fondly dreamed of the time when she should
happily send to those she loved the summons to come to her on her
wedding day. But the pile of envelopes which eventually found their way
to the nearest mail-box contained news of a vastly different character.

True to her promise she had conscientiously waited for the word from Mr.
Blaisdell which Mrs. Gray had anticipated. At the end of three days of
suspense she had sought her Fairy Godmother only to meet with a letter
from the investigator which sent hope to the winds. In it he stated that
aside from the station master at the lonely little railway station, he
had encountered no one who recalled seeing a young man of the
description of Tom Gray. He had learned from the former that Tom had
halted him to inquire the way to the camp and to ascertain if he could
obtain any means of conveyance on that day. As it was then four o'clock
in the afternoon and no one from the camp had met the train, the station
master had warned him that a storm was coming and advised him to wait
over until the following morning, offering Tom the hospitality of his
own home. The young man had politely declined his offer, saying that he
must reach the camp that night and would walk. He had said good-bye and
swung off toward the dense growth of forest that rose behind the
straggling hamlet, and nothing further had been seen or heard of him.

Further inquiry at the camp, which Mr. Blaisdell had experienced
considerable difficulty in reaching, had developed the alarming news
that no such person as Tom Gray had been seen in that vicinity. He had
gleane