At length, when the fury of the storm had subsided somewhat, Dave laid down to sleep, and Aaron Crosby followed. Joseph Morris walked away from the cliff to see if the horses were safe. He was gone about half an hour and came back much disturbed.
“Lovejoy is gone and so is Fanny,” he said. “I’ve looked for them everywhere but I can’t find any trace of them.”
CHAPTER X
AN UNSUCCESSFUL MISSION
“Fanny is gone?” cried Dave, and sprang up instantly, for the mare mentioned was his own, given to him by his father, just before the parent had departed from the farm at Will’s Creek. Fanny had been a pet in the Morris family for years and Dave thought a great deal of her.
“Yes, she’s gone, and Lovejoy, too,” went on Joseph Morris. “I can’t find trace of them anywhere.”
“They can’t be very far off,” put in Aaron Crosby. “For I looked after all the animals not more than an hour ago, and they were well fastened.”
“Could they have been stolen?” asked Dave, with increased anxiety.
“I don’t think so,” said his uncle. “I haven’t seen anybody around, have you?”
Neither Dave nor Crosby had, and the party came to the conclusion that the horses must have broken away in their fright. But be that as it might, they could not afford such a loss, and moreover Dave could not bear to think of losing Fanny. Wet and dark as it was those who had retired arose and a small camp-fire was lit in a sheltered corner, and from this each provided himself with a torch.
The other steeds remained as they had been left, but not even a trace of the halters which had held Fanny and Lovejoy could be found.