en felled for that purpose,
and constituted the only bridge, the topmost boughs of which rested on
the other side, just as the stream was bridged below his father's
cabin, but upon which he had often been charged not to venture. Bub
had been so often charged on this point, and impressed with the
danger, that he did not forget it now; and, while he amused himself
with dropping sticks into the water, and watching to see them carried
along by the current, he called,--

"Mother, come, get Bub, if you don't want him drownded up."

And, as his mother did not make her appearance, he shouted for Sarah,
till, as it was getting dusk, he felt afraid to linger longer, and
mounted the tree. It was a dizzy height above the water, and Bub's
curly pate would whirl whenever he glanced below; so, as he could not
walk steadily, he sat down, and tried to hitch along as he had seen
Sarah do. This was not much better for him, and he began creeping on
all fours; and, with many an admonitory slip, which served to make him
the more careful, he had got nearly across, when he fell, holding his
breath from fright. Fortunately, however, he had reached the lower
limbs, and the friendly branches held him until he was able to regain
the trunk of the tree; and ere long his little feet pressed _terra
firma_.

The cultivated ground was not fenced next the river, the bank being
sufficiently steep to keep out stray cattle, and Bub found some
difficulty in scaling it; but as he was hungry for supper, and had
something of a will of his own, despite his short legs and frequent
tumbles, at last he succeeded. And, wandering around in the cornfield,
vainly seeking his mother's cabin, baffled in his efforts, and finding
that crying was of no avail, tired, frightened, and dispirited, he
leaned his head against a clump of cornstalks, and, falling gently
from the support to the soft soil, he dropped asleep as the darkness
came on.

But where was Tom? When he returned from doing the errands, he was
surprised at not finding either Mrs. Smith or Bub at the minister's,
and was standing undecided what to do, when the clergyman drove up.
Tom immediately stated his perplexity.

"You don't suppose the woman went home, leaving Bub here alone, and
the child has strayed away?" suggested Mrs. Payson, apprehensively.

"I scarcely think a woman of her age would be so imprudent," replied
her husband. "She may, however, have gone to the village, and taken
the child with her