ter sunrise when he opened his eyes.

"I declare! I've had a regular sleep!" he cried. "Why didn't you wake
me up?"

"We didn't think it necessary," said Fred.

"Have they got back?"

"No."

At this, Tom's face grew serious.

"That's strange, and I must say I don't like it."

"Oh, I guess they'll show up before a great while," answered Fred.
"They couldn't travel very well in the dark. If they tried it, they'd
be sure to get lost."

Once more, they unpacked the provisions they had brought along and
made a leisurely break-fast. Then they packed their things again and
waited.

"I am going up to the top of a tree and take another look around,"
announced Tom about ten o'clock. He could scarcely stand the suspense.

"I'll do the same," said Songbird, and soon they were in the top of
a tall tree and gazing axiously in the direction of Red Rock ranch.

The place looked to be deserted.

"Not a sign of Dick and Sam anywhere," said the fun-loving Rover.

For reply, Songbird hummed softly to himself:

"The woods and plains are everywhere,
But for those things we do not care.
In every nook and every place
We look for a familiar face.
What has become of those we cherish?
Are they alive, or did they perish?"

"Don't go on that way, Songbird, you give a fellow the blues," cried
Tom. "If I thought Dick and Sam had perished--"

"Merely a figure of speech, Tom. I had to find a word to rhyme with
cherish, that's all."

"And such a word is rarish, I suppose," murmured Tom. "Honest, this
is no joking matter," he continued soberly.

"I know it, and I wish Sam and Dick were back."

They continued to watch the ranch and presently saw a boy come out
with a bundle under his arm and a fishing pole over his shoulder.

"There's a boy, and he is coming this way!" cried the poetic youth.

They watched the boy as long as they could and saw him turn to the
northward and take to a trail running close to a fair-sized stream.

"I think he is going fishing," said Tom. "I'd like to run across him
and question him."

They watched the boy as long as they could, and then climbed down
the tree and told the others of what they had seen.

"I am going after him," said Tom. "You stay here until I get back."

"I am going along," said Songbird, and so it was arranged.

A few minutes of walking brought them to the stream of water, and
they walked along the bank of this a distance of quarter of a mile,
when Tom called a h