"As Gladwyne hasn't turned up, Nasmyth and I are going to look for him," he announced. "There's nothing to be alarmed about, but it's quite likely we may not be back in the morning. If we don't turn up by noon, you had better start down-river and we'll pick you up farther on. I don't want to waste another day." "Do you think he has got lost altogether?" Millicent asked anxiously. "No," answered Lisle, in a reassuring manner. "Still, some of these ridges are bad to climb and quite a lot of things may happen to delay him." He called to a packer and gave him definite orders to take the party down-river and wait at a spot agreed upon; and a few minutes later he and Nasmyth left the camp. Shortly afterward Batley came in. "Where are the others?" he asked. They told him and he looked thoughtful. "So Lisle started at once! Which way did he and Nasmyth go?" "Up the ridge behind us, but they turned down-stream when they reached the top," Carew replied. Batley scented a mystery. "Well," he said, "I think I'll go after them; I might be useful. Of course, you'll start to-morrow as Lisle told you, and if I'm not back by then, I'll follow the river to the rendezvous he mentioned." He disappeared, as did Crestwick, who came in for supper later on, and as the packers had pitched their tent lower down, there was now only Carew left with the women in camp. They were all a little uneasy as dusk grew near; the haste with which the men had set out one after another struck them as ominous. Bella's mind was unusually active, for she had promptly decided that there was something behind all this, and when at last Millicent strolled away from the others she followed her to the edge of the water. A ridge of rock cut them off from view of the camp and though she fancied that Millicent was not pleased to see her, Bella sat down upon a stone. "In a way, the anxiety that Lisle and the rest have shown to find Clarence is flattering," she began, expressing part of her thoughts. "I wonder if they'd all have gone off in such a hurry if Jim had got lost." "Your brother knows the bush," returned Millicent, hiding her fears. Bella did not respond to this. She had decided that Millicent must not be allowed to marry Gladwyne, but she could not bring herself to denounce the man. If that must be done, somebody else would have to undertake the task. At the same time, she felt it incumbent on her to give the girl some warning, or at least to find out how far her confidence in her lover went, in order to determine how advice could best be offered. "I wonder if you feel quite sure you will be happy with Clarence?" she ventured. "You have provoked the retort--were you convinced that you would be happy with Arthur Carew, when you made up your mind to marry him so suddenly?"