"Why didn't you head him off?"
It was not easy to convince Charley that they had been entirely powerless to capture the bullock, so fixed had been his determination to secure so valuable a prize; but after a while he began to see matters in their true light, and to understand that Ned and Jack could not have stopped the animal, even if they had been prepared for his coming, as in fact they were not.
Then Charley examined his own bruises, which were pretty severe, though no bones were broken.
"The worst of the damage," he said, after awhile, "is the loss of the hatchet, and I suppose we shall find that."
THE END OF CHARLEY'S ADVENTURE.
"Did you lose the hunting-knife too?" asked Jack.