a 
3 
you,'; I forbid you to go in search of that 
/sluggish brother of yours. Of course, 
Maria, I suppose you will do as you please 
-about sitting up for Dan. But you had bet¬ 
ter go to rest now, or you will not be able 
to do half a day’s work to-morrow,” 
answered the stern disciplinarian. 
So Mr. Bogart went to bed, and to sleep, 
fully believing his ideas of paternal gov¬ 
ernment w T ere right. Roger went to bed 
-also, but sleep he could not, nor did he 
try to; for, despite his words, he was wor¬ 
ried about his younger brother, for he loved 
Dan, and would sooner have been in danger 
himself than that it should visit him. 
Gladly would he have gone in search of 
the missing one but lie did not dare to dis¬ 
obey his father or incur his wrath. 
Mrs. Bogart waited and watched for 
-about half an hour, and then stepping 
carefully into her chamber she saw that 
her husband was sound asleep. How could 
he sleep when he knew not where his 
youngest born might be? Then, lighting 
her lantern and putting on her waterproof 
cloak she visited Roger’s bed to see if he 
was also slumbering. How many nights 
*she had visited that room ere she went to 
rest, herself, and had seen two heads there 
and now there was but one. 
Roger, as we have said, had not gone to 
sleep; and on seeing his mother dressed for 
out-doors, and with the lantern in her hand, 
was about to exclaim, when she put her 
finger to her lips a^s though cautioning him 
to be silent. 
And she then knelt down by his bedside 
and whispered in his ear: 
“Roger, I am going in search of. Dan. I 
know you would go with me, or go alone, 
had not your father forbidden you to do so; 
but he has not said that I shall not. I know 
something has happened, to Dan. I feel 
a presentiment that he is in some trouble. 
I know not where he is, but I have faith 
•enough in God to believe He will guide me 
•to my strayed lamb.” 
Kissing Roger, she stole carefully out of 
the room, out of the house into the silent 
road, into the dark and rainy night. 
Down the road went that anxious moth¬ 
er, flashing the lantern’s rays on each side 
in fear, yet in hope, ifo finding him whom 
she sought. 
Not long had she been on her way ere 
the clouds sent down a drenching shower 
of rain. But never heeded the mother that; 
she felt she would willingly have gone 
through a flood did her search require it. 
Just as she got to the edge of the woods 
her foot stumbled, and she fell over some 
object stretched there. Rising to her feet 
and anxious to continue her search— 
although her fall had given her quite a 
shock—she cast the 1 intern’s light on that 
over which she had fallen, thinking it to 
be a log of wood; but judge of her surprise 
when she found it to be a human being, 
and that being, her own boy Dan ! 
Yes, it was Dan stretched on the ground 
with the basket, in which he carried his 
store purchases, lightly in his hand. 
Mrs. Bogart raised him up and took him 
in her arms, questioned him as to what the 
matter was and if he were hurt. 
But to all her questionings he gave no 
answer, nor did he seem to understand 
what she said, He only looked up into her 
face with a frightened expression and ex¬ 
claimed in frightened accents: “Bear! 
bear!” 
How she ever got the boy home through 
that dark, tempestuous night she never 
seemed able to tell; it was by dragging 
and carrying him along, she thought. 
But home was reached at last. The father 
said but little, yet seemed to feel deep re¬ 
morse. The wet clothes were exchanged 
for dry ones, and all did what they thought 
was for the best. 
Still, Dan seemed to pay no heed to any 
one, but submitted to all that was done for 
him, with that frightened look; and to all 
questions asked him, he merely answered: 
“Bear! bear!” 
A doctor was summoned the next morn¬ 
ing, and he gave it as his opiuon that the 
lad had been frightened by a bear. He 
also told them he feared the lad was threat¬ 
ened with brain fever that might end fatal¬ 
ly, as the boy had received a great shock. 
And the physician was right. The fever 
set in, and Dan was confined to his bed for 
many weeks; sometimes being so weak 
that no one could believe that the spark of 
life was still in his body. 
