he could not trace it. Probably the old man had taken off his snow-shoes
here, and his light moccasins had left no mark that could be seen in the
night.




CHAPTER III.


For two nights after that Alec Trenholme kept his lamp lit all night,
placing it in his window so that all the light that could struggle
through the frosted panes should cast an inviting ray into the night. He
did this in the hope that the old man might still be wandering in the
neighbourhood; but it was soon ascertained that this was not the case;
the stranger had been seen by no one else in Turrifs Settlement. Though
it was clear, from reports that came, that he was the same who had
visited other villages and been accepted as the missing Cameron, nothing
more was heard of him, and it seemed that he had gone now off the lines
of regular communication--unless, indeed, he had the power of appearing
and disappearing at will, which was the popular view of his case.
Turrifs Station had become notorious. Trenholme received jeers and gibes
even by telegraph from neighbouring stations. He had given account to no
one of the midnight visit, but inventive curiosity had supplied details
of a truly wonderful nature. It was not on this account that he gave up
his situation on the line, but because a new impulse had seized him, and
he had no particular reason for remaining. He waited till a new
caretaker arrived from the headquarters of the railway, and then set
forth from the station the following morning on foot.