Part 53 (1/2)
”Oh, dear!” exclaimed Theodora. ”I suppose he has dragged himself away somewheres. I know he was. .h.i.t by the way he cried out.”
”I did not aim right at the bush,” said Tom; ”but I suppose the gun may have scattered.”
”Plague take him!” exclaimed Willis. ”I don't much care if he is. .h.i.t.”
”Oh, don't talk so!” cried Ellen.
”No; don't talk so,” said Catherine. ”If he is. .h.i.t and has crept away, we must find him if we can.”
”Of course,” said Addison who was peering about on the ground, ”we will do all we can to find him and care for him, if it really was he.”
”Halse! Halse!” Tom shouted, as loudly as he could. ”Answer, Halse, if you are hurt! We will take care of you!”
There was no reply.
”He may be dead by this time!” lamented Theodora.
Then we began searching in earnest; we rekindled the fire, and taking brands, looked the ground all over for twenty rods or more from the cabins, in that direction. Not a trace could be discovered.
”I guess he wasn't hurt much,” Willis said privately to me.
But that wild outcry had taken a dreadful hold on Theodora's fancies.
With the tears starting constantly to her eyes, she searched and implored the rest of us to keep looking about. I half expected we might come upon Halse in the bushes; for I knew that if one of those heavy shot had struck him, it might cause a fatal wound.
Tom, too, felt very badly and very nervous; so did Kate.
At last we went back to the cabin, for it seemed of no use to search longer. Theodora was so wrought up, that she even wanted to start off for home in the darkness, to notify the Old Squire. Nothing could persuade her that Halse was not wounded or killed.
But Addison said at once that we could not think of making such a trip in the night; that we would wait till morning and see what could be discovered then; and he advised the girls to go to sleep and get as good a night's rest as they could.
”It will do no good to cry, or keep awake, Doad,” he said. ”We can do nothing till daylight.”
Accordingly we went to our own cabin and left the girls to shut themselves into theirs and sleep if they could. We all felt very much disturbed; yet I, for one, fell asleep and slept through the rest of the night quite soundly. I doubt whether Theodora slept, however. She was awake and out with Addison long before I roused up. Catherine and Ellen, too, were astir, and they had all four been searching, ever since it had grown light enough.
Willis had gone to fish for trout; he came back with a fine string of them, just as I was waking up. As he sat dressing them to fry for breakfast, he declared again that he was not at all afraid that Halse was much injured.
But all the rest of us had our fears, and not much interest was felt in breakfast or anything else, save to get ready to start for home, as quickly as possible. For Addison had decided that the best thing to do, under the circ.u.mstances, was to go home and see what could be learned there of Halse's movements.
We therefore ate a breakfast of such food as could be most quickly prepared, then packed up our luggage, and began our long trip back home, through the woods. It was far from being a pleasant walk. The zest and antic.i.p.ation of our outing had departed. We plodded drearily on and reached Clear Pond at about one o'clock. Here, after a hasty lunch, Addison ran on ahead, to reach home and come back with the team. The entire burden of the baskets, guns, etc., now fell on Tom, Willis and me; the girls were tired, and we got on slowly.
At last, after two or three hours, we heard Addison coming along the winter road with the horses and wagon, while still at a considerable distance. The girls sat down to wait for him to come near enough to speak. Theodora, in particular, feared the worst.
But as soon as Addison came in sight, where we were sitting on a log by the side of the trail, he swung his hat, and shouted, ”All right!”
”Thank Providence!” burst from Theodora's lips; and we all jumped up and shouted for joy.
”But was it Halse?” exclaimed Tom and Kate and I, all in a breath.