Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/35

 sigh; “would look for a year if it would be of any use; but why go on searching when we  know they cannot be found?”

He got to his feet to go, leaving Hugh still sitting, stunned, trying to think what this cruel  news must mean to him. At the door Nels paused and, even without the encouragement of  a question, actually volunteered a remark of his  own.

“There is something I must tell you also,” he said, “for others may say it to you and perhaps  not with kindness. It is that John Edmonds left his accounts in bad shape at the bank, that his  books are confused and there is talk of money  missing. So there are some people, and presently there will be more and more, who say that even if he is not dead in the woods he will never  come back.”

“That is not true,” cried Hugh, springing from his seat, “that cannot possibly be true.”

“No,” returned Nels, “I do not think it can be. There are many rascals in this neighborhood, but John Edmonds is not one of them.”