"Wouldn't he come?"
"You found thar wasn't any paper to fetch?"
When the messenger had recovered his breath and the silence abated, he replied to all these questions in one sentence:
"Thar wasn't no one at the caves!"
"No one!" shouted a number.
"Not a livin' soul."
"Whar had they gone?" asked Badger.
"The flood must have drowned 'em all out," said the messenger.
"Did it rise as high as the caves?" asked one.
"Yes; clear up to the top."