The cultivated ground was not fenced next the river, the bank being sufficiently steep to keep out stray cattle, and Bub found some difficulty in scaling it; but as he was hungry for supper, and had something of a will of his own, despite his short legs and frequent tumbles, at last he succeeded. And, wandering around in the cornfield, vainly seeking his mother’s cabin, baffled in his efforts, and finding that crying was of no avail, tired, frightened, and dispirited, he leaned his head against a clump of cornstalks, and, falling gently from the support to the soft soil, he dropped asleep as the darkness came on.
But where was Tom? When he returned from doing the errands, he was surprised at not finding either Mrs. Smith or Bub at the minister’s, and was standing undecided what to do, when the clergyman drove up. Tom immediately stated his perplexity.
“You don’t suppose the woman went home, leaving Bub here alone, and the child has strayed away?” suggested Mrs. Payson, apprehensively.
“I scarcely think a woman of her age would be so imprudent,” replied her husband. “She may, however, have gone to the village, and 155 taken the child with her for safe keeping. It would be well, Tom, to go down and see.”
Tom was hurrying along, when a lad called out,–
“Did the old woman find Bub?” and he related how she came there in search of him. This startled Tom, and, hastening back, he told Mr. Payson what he had heard.
“Perhaps, then,” said the minister, “the old lady got tired of waiting for me, and took Bub home with her. You may take the team and ride over there.”
Finding that Mr. Smith had not seen his wife, Tom at once concluded that there must be something seriously wrong; and he said,–
“I was told at the village that your wife was there, trying to find Bub. It may be they are both lost in the woods. Now, if you will get the settlers about here together, I will rouse the villagers, and we will make a search.”
We have already described the finding of the lost woman.