One autumn morning, Leo is missing: “It seemed that this apparently incidental but in reality extremely important event, the disappearance of Leo, was in no way an accident, but a link in the chain of events through which the eternal enemy sought to bring disaster to our undertaking” (37). H.H., and others in the group, feel that a catastrophe is coming. They spend the day looking for Leo and becoming increasingly convinced that this is the first sign of great trouble to come:

It seemed that the more certain his loss became, the more indispensable he seemed; Without Leo, his handsome face, his good humor and his songs, without his enthusiasm for our great undertaking, the undertaking itself seemed in some mysterious way to lose meaning (39).

H.H. feels the first doubts he has experienced on the Journey to the East, and soon he doubts the meaning of his own life.

As they search for Leo, each member of the group realizes that he is missing one important item from his own luggage. Each item must have been in Leo’s luggage. Eventually, with no explanation, all of the items reappear, as if they were never lost.