"I'M A SOLDIER NOW."
Some two hours later Briggs faced Granny and myself with a countenance expressive of the deepest despair.
"He's gone, mum!" she exclaimed, tragically, throwing up her hands as she spoke.
"Gone! Gone! Who is gone?" Granny asked with bewilderment and surprise at Briggs' sudden announcement. Then, as Chris's absence struck her, she inquired fearfully:
"Has anything happened to Master Chris? Where is the child? Why is he not with you?"
"He's lost, mum!" she said, breathlessly. "Everywhere have I looked for him, high and low, up and down, but nowhere is he to be found!"
At this startling piece of intelligence Granny half rose in her chair as if to go without delay and search for the wanderer; but, recollecting the necessity for further information, she sunk back again, and asked with agitation:
"Where, then, did you leave him? When did you last see him? How long ago is it, Briggs? I must beg of you to be as accurate as possible, most accurate."
"I left him in the garden about an hour ago," she answered, on the point of tears. "I had just taken him out for a short walk, having some work to do; and thinking he'd be better for a little more air I left him in the garden when we came back. When I went for him half an hour after, not a trace of him was there to be seen!"
"But how careless, how very careless of you, Briggs!" Granny said in a reprimanding yet trembling voice. "You should not have left him out of your sight for so long. At his age! Most inconsiderate!"