In truth, we were all certain that now Jim would squander his savings in the worst possible way; but when another letter came, again demanding the book, the old Squire decided that we must send it.
"The poor fellow needs a guardian," he said.

"But he hasn't one; he is his own man and has a right to his property." With hot tears of resentment grandmother, accompanied by Theodora, went to the wagon-house cellar to get the book.

After some minutes they returned, exclaiming that they could not find it! No little stir ensued; what had become of it?
For the moment Addison and I actually suspected that grandmother and Theodora had hidden the book again, in order to avoid sending it; but a few words with Theodora, aside, convinced us that the book had really disappeared from the cellar.
The old Squire was greatly disturbed.

"Ruth," he said to grandmother, "are you sure you have not put it somewhere else ?" Grandmother declared that she had not.

None the less, they searched in all the previous hiding places of the book and continued looking for it until after ten o'clock that night.