With one bound he was out of the wagon and climbing up the side of the quarry as fast as he could go, loose stones and dirt flying in a shower behind him as he was in such a hurry to reach the top. The second he got there, he discovered the pale face of the child as it showed so plainly against the wet, black stones. He ran around the pit until he was directly over where the child lay.
“Uncle Hiram, come quick! Come quick! I can’t hang on much longer. My fingers are getting numb!”
You see the man was no other than the little child’s own Uncle. Down the steep side of the quarry he started, but found he must go further along the top and then down, as the stones were soft and broke under his feet and he feared they might injure the child as they rolled.
When the little fellow saw the man start to go down to him again he cried out in fright and dismay: “Oh, Uncle Hiram, don’t! Don’t go away and leave me!”
“Don’t worry, Eddie. Indeed I won’t leave you. I am just going over here a little way to find a better and safer place to climb down.”
In fact, he was soon down and walking along a rocky ledge that led straight to where the little fellow lay, and in a jiffy he had him in his arms and was climbing the steep ascent, the child clasped in a close embrace. When they were safely on the wagon, he asked the boy how he happened to fall in the pit and he said he was coming home from doing an errand and was walking near the edge of the quarry when he saw a beautiful blue flower on the very edge and while trying to get it the bank gave way and fell into the water in the quarry pit, carrying him down with it.
“How long had you been there?”
“Oh, ever and ever so long, Uncle! Seemed most like a year!”
“I’ll wager it does seem like a year and more to you, and I never would have found you if it had not been for Stubby and Button. The old wagon was making such a racket and I was whistling so loudly I never would have heard you cry above all that noise.”