nives and wooden spoons upon the table. The girls
soon came back without finding Lucy, but the mother even then supposed
that she had fallen asleep, overcome by her play and the heat of the
sun. She stepped to the door and called loudly for Lucy; and the family
sat down to supper, expecting her every minute to walk in. She did not
come; and hastily finishing their meal, they all went to search the
farm. Not finding Lucy, they became thoroughly alarmed.

Adjoining Mr. Keyes' farm, and between it and the foot of the mountain,
was the clearing of a Mr. Littlejohn. He had no family. His farm was but
little cultivated, and his cabin had not the air of home and comfort
which Mrs. Keyes had put into hers. He was a hunter also, and he had a
brace or two of dogs. Bearskins were tacked to the walls of his hut, to
dry; and deer-horns, and fox-skins still further showed the hunter. This
man was of a morose and hermit-like nature. There was a mystery about
his early history; he had come from the old world, where he had mingled
in affairs of state, and whence he had fled. Little children were afraid
of him. He was quarrelsome, too; and before this time he had claimed a
part of Mr. Keyes' land. As the two farmers could not agree upon the
boundary line, they had called in two of their neighbors, and a surveyor
from Lancaster, to fix the boundary. These had decided in favor of Mr.
Keyes. The two neighbors had very little to do with each other after
that; and the hermit became still more unsocial and morose. But in his
distress Mr. Keyes called upon this man for help, and Mr. Littlejohn
appeared to enter heartily into the search. The frequency of captures by
the Indians, at once led to the suspicion that they had stolen Lucy. Mr.
Littlejohn, as a hunter, assumed direction of the searching party. He
sent the father and boys to follow the path towards the lake, the mother
and daughters to go down the hill towards the east, while he went to the
south and up the mountain. All hunted fast and far till late in the
evening, when the gathering darkness had settled on the woods and hills;
and then they turned their weary steps homeward. About this time all
the members of the Keyes family saw the light of a huge bonfire,
northwesterly from their house, and turned their steps towards the spot;
for this was a signal that the lost was found. On reaching the place,
however, they found Mr. Littlejohn, but no Lucy. He said that the
darkness prevented fur