rn and search the country round for
him, so that if he left the spot he might miss them.

"Oh for my dear pup Crusoe!" he exclaimed aloud in this dilemma; but
the faithful ear was shut now, and the deep silence that followed his
cry was so oppressive that the young hunter sprang forward at a
run over the plain, as if to fly from solitude. He soon became so
absorbed, however, in his efforts to find the trail of his companions,
that he forgot all other considerations, and ran straight forward for
hours together with his eyes eagerly fixed on the ground. At last he
felt so hungry, having tasted no food since supper-time the previous
evening, that he halted for the purpose of eating a morsel of maple
sugar. A line of bushes in the distance indicated water, so he sped on
again, and was soon seated beneath a willow, drinking water from the
cool stream. No game was to be found here, but there were several
kinds of berries, among which wild grapes and plums grew in abundance.
With these and some sugar he made a meal, though not a good one, for
the berries were quite green and intensely sour.

All that day Dick Varley followed up the trail of his companions,
which he discovered at a ford in the river. They had crossed,
therefore, in safety, though still pursued; so he ran on at a regular
trot, and with a little more hope than he had felt during the day.
Towards night, however, Dick's heart sank again, for he came upon
innumerable buffalo tracks, among which those of the horses soon
became mingled up, so that he lost them altogether. Hoping to find
them again more easily by broad daylight, he went to the nearest clump
of willows he could find, and encamped for the night.

Remembering the use formerly made of the tall willows, he set to work
to construct a covering to protect him from the dew. As he had no
blanket or buffalo skin, he used leaves and grass instead, and found
it a better shelter than he had expected, especially when the fire was
lighted, and a pannikin of hot sugar and water smoked at his feet; but
as no game was to be found, he was again compelled to sup off unripe
berries. Before lying down to rest he remembered his resolution, and
pulling out the little Bible, read a portion of it by the fitful blaze
of the fire, and felt great comfort in its blessed words. It seemed
to him like a friend with whom he could converse in the midst of his
loneliness.

The plunge into the river having broken Dick's pipe and destro