t! poor Effie! Where can they have gone?"
They were a long way from home, they knew; but they dreaded going back
without their little brother and sister. Indeed, in the dark they would
be unable to find their way, for they had no notion of steering
themselves by the stars. The fruit, though very fit for making jelly,
was full of seeds, and not satisfying; but they had no other food, so at
last they sat down and ate enough to allay the cravings of hunger.

The alarm at Stratton became very great when the children did not
return. No one knew in what direction they had gone, but the baskets
they had made had disappeared; consequently, it was supposed that they
had set off on an expedition to pick fruit. At that hour it was
impossible to see their trail; even Betty could not do it. However, Mr
Hayward, accompanied by the boys and Bruce, at once started in search of
the missing children. They made their way along the edge of the scrub,
and penetrated into it whenever they could find an opening, cooing at
the top of their voices, and shouting loudly, "Rob, Tommy, Effie,
Albert! answer! Where are you?"

No answer came.

"I trust that the black fellows have not got hold of them," said Mr
Hayward.

"We must pursue, and get them back," cried Harry. "Savage as the
natives are, they would not dare to injure them."

Mr Hayward did not reply; he might have known more of the natives than
Harry did.

At length, having gone some distance, they heard a faint cooey in reply
to theirs.

"Hurrah! That must be Rob's voice," exclaimed Harry; "though where it
came from I cannot tell. I will cooey again."

Harry gave another loud cooey; again a distant answer was heard.

"Why, that must be behind us," said Harry; "it comes from the edge of
the scrub."

They had by this time made their way into the interior. Bruce, on
hearing the second cooey, pricked up his ears and bounded forward. They
turned back, guided by Rob's voice, and casting the light of their
lanterns about, they at length saw Rob standing up, with Tommy and Edgar
lying down near him.

"Oh, I am so thankful you have come!" exclaimed Rob. "Have you found
Effie and Albert?"

The question alarmed Mr Hayward and the other boys.

"No; what has become of them?" asked Harry.

"We lost sight of them all of a sudden, and though we hunted about, we
have not seen them since; and then we could not find our way home in the
dark."

Mr Hayward saw that there was n