So it seemed they had not worried about him at all: then what was grandma crying about?
"Don't go upstairs, dear," said she, as he brushed past her and laid his hand on the latch of the chamber door.
"But I want to see ma."
"Wait a little," said Mrs. Parlin, with a fresh burst of tears.
"Why, what is the matter, grandma; and where's Grace, and Susie, and Prudy?"
"Grace is with your mother, and the other children are at Aunt Martha's. But if you've been in the woods all day, Horace, you must be very hungry."
"You've forgot Pincher, grandma."
The boy would not taste food till the dog's foot had been bandaged, though all the while his grandmother was doing up the wound, it seemed to Horace that she must be thinking of something else, or she would pity Pincher a great deal more.
The cold dinner which she set out on the table was very tempting, and he ate heartily; but after every mouthful he kept asking, "What could be the matter? Was baby worse? Had anybody took sick?"
But his grandmother stood by the stove stirring gruel, and would answer him nothing but, "I'll let you know very soon."