"And when shall we get home, Seth?" "It's a long road, but we'll git there's soon as we can," said Seth, with the weight of the journey upon him. CHAPTER XXI A WARM WELCOME For two days Eager raked over the sand-hills, from morning till night, with all the men he could press into the service, and all the ardour he could rouse in them. In long, undulating lines, rising and falling over the hummocks like the long sea-rollers, they scoured the wastes till they were satisfied that no Jim was there. Each night Sir Denzil met him, when he came upstairs to report, with a repressed eagerness which gave way to cynical satisfaction the moment he saw his face. "So!" he would say, with a gratified nod, as he helped himself to snuff with studied elegance. "No result, Mr. Eager. I really begin to think we must give him up. You are simply wasting your time and that of all your--er--friends." "Supposing, after all, the poor lad should be lying, unable to move, in some hollow----" "Let us hope that his sufferings would be over long before this!" "It is too horrible to think of. I cannot sleep at night for the thought of it." "Ah, I am sorry. You should cultivate a spirit of equanimity--as I do. If he is found--well! If he is not found, I am bound to say--better! The problem that has puzzled us these ten years is then solved--in a way, of course, though, as I think I have explained myself to you before, not in the right way. Still we have got only one boy to deal with, and we must make the best of him. I have been considering the idea of a public school. You would endorse that, I presume?" "Undoubtedly--for both of them, if we can only find Jim." "We are considering the one we have. Now, which school would you advise--Rugby, Harrow, Eton? There's a new place just opened at Marlborough. I see----" "Harrow," said Eager decisively. "They are both meant for the army, of course?" "You will speak in the plural still," said Sir Denzil, with a smile. "I cannot bring myself to think of Jim as dead and gone." "Well, well! Let us hope you have more foundation for your higher beliefs, Mr. Eager. Meanwhile, and to lose no time, I will write to my lawyer in London to have this boy entered at Harrow. What delay will it entail?" "None, I should say. The numbers are low there just now, but Vaughan will soon pull things round, and meanwhile they will stand the better chance." "They--they--they!" said Sir Denzil, eyeing him quizzically. "You really still hope, then?" "I shall hope until it is impossible to hope any longer. Have you considered the idea of his having been kidnapped, Sir Denzil?" "It has occurred to me, of course. But why should any one kidnap him?" "If it should be so--to leave the other in full possession, of course. But we have no grounds to go upon. I have made inquiries as to all the gipsies who have been within ten miles of us lately. They are all here yet, and know nothing of the boy."