It was almost like a pilgrimage to one's boyhood home; for while scarce a year had elapsed since Old Cy and Martin's party left it, Nature, always seeking to hide human handiwork, had been busy, and the garden was a tangle of weeds. Amzi's old cabin was almost hid by bushes, the walks were choked with them, and a colony of squirrels frisked about, and now, alarmed at human presence, added a touch of pathos. One act of vandalism was in evidence, for some wandering trappers had apparently used the larger cabin the previous season. Its floor was littered with all manner of debris, the bones of a deer mouldered in the woodshed, and a family of porcupines had also found the premises available. The impression conveyed by the entire spot and its surroundings made even Levi gloomy, while Old Cy scarce spoke the entire first day there, except to exclaim at "varmints" who would break locks, use the cabin for months, and then leave a litter of garbage to draw vermin. "It's curis how near to hogs 'n' hyenas a few humans are," he said as he looked around and saw how these vandals had behaved. "They wa'n't satisfied with burglin' the cabin, turnin' it into a pig-pen, stealin' all they could carry off, but they was so durned lazy, they smashed up the furniture to burn." For a few days only these two fine old backwoodsmen tarried here, and then Old Cy proposed departure. "I can't take no comfort here, nohow," he said, "for the premises seem ha'nted. Whichever way I turn I 'spect to meet Amzi with his moon eyes, or see Chip watchin' me, or Angie steppin' out o' the cabin. If I stayed here long, I'd see Chip's spites crawlin' out o' the bushes soon ez it got dusky. I'm used to the woods, but this spot seems like a graveyard. "I never done no prayin'," he added sadly. "I don't b'lieve in't. But if I could set eyes on Chip this minit, I'd go right down on my knees 'n' say, 'Thank God for this blessin'.' I'm 'fraid I never will, though." The next morning these two friends left this abode of unseen forms, more disconsolate than ever. They halted at Tim's Place long enough to learn that no tidings of McGuire or the half-breed had even reached that filthy station, and then returned to the settlement once more. Here Old Cy waited until the summer waned, vainly hoping each day would at least bring some word from Martin or Chip, and then bade Levi good-bye, and departed. He had been gone a week, a wandering tramp once more, when Ray appeared, bearing the glad news that Chip had been found. And also another and a more astounding fact. But Old Cy was not there. CHAPTER XXXIV