swered the red-haired boy. "I looked all around by the
spring, but I couldn't see him. The pail was there, but Tom wasn't."

"Could he have fallen in?" asked Mrs. Brown, just as Uncle Tad had
asked.

Bunker Blue shook his head.

"The spring is only about big enough to dip a pail in," he said, "and
Tom is bigger than the pail."

"But maybe he curled all up in a little heap when he fell in," said
Bunny. "Oh, dear! I don't want Tom to be lost!"

Bunny and Sue had grown to like Tom very much.

Once more Bunker Blue shook his head.

"I could look right down to the bottom of the spring," he said. "It's
quite deep, even if it isn't big. But Tom wasn't in it. There was a big
bullfrog in the water, though."

"Was the frog big enough to--to eat Tom?" asked Sue, her eyes wide open.

Sue's mother and father laughed, and Bunny said:

"A bullfrog couldn't eat anybody!"

"They could if they was a big enough frog; couldn't they, Daddy?" asked
Sue.

"Well, I don't know," replied Mr. Brown. "Then you couldn't see anything
of Tom, Bunker?"

"No, sir, not a thing."

"Had he filled the pail with water?" Uncle Tad wanted to know.

"The pail was empty, and it was tipped over," Bunker said. "I don't know
whether Tom had filled it, and then something had knocked it over, or
not. Anyhow, the pail had no water in it, so I dipped it into the
spring to fill it, and came on back to tell you."

"That was right," said Mr. Brown. "We'll go over and look around. Tom
may have seen some new kind of bird, or something like that, and have
wandered off in the woods, following it."

"Maybe he saw a bear, and ran," suggested Bunny.

"No, I guess the only bear around here is the tame one that came in our
tent the first night," said Mrs. Brown. "Oh, I do hope nothing has
happened to Tom!"

They all hoped that, for the strange boy was very well liked.

Mrs. Brown remained at the tent to wash the breakfast dishes, since Tom
was not there to do them, while the others--Bunny, Sue, their father,
Uncle Tad and Bunker--went to the spring. It was on the side of a little
hill, where grew many trees, and was about three minutes' walk from Camp
Rest-a-While.

Mr. Brown and Uncle Tad looked all around the hole in the ground--the
hole was the spring, and it was filled with clear, cold water. The
bottom of the spring was of white sand, and sitting down there, having a
nice bath, was a big, green bullfrog. With his funny eyes he looked up
at Bunny a