, slip from the boat, and
scamper away through the darkness. His absence was not discovered
until the next morning, and at first it was supposed that he was in
hiding somewhere on board. When a thorough search failed to produce
the little rascal, all except Sabella declared he would never be found,
and they must proceed down the river without him. Against this
decision the little girl, who had become deeply attached to her pet,
protested so earnestly that Cap'n Cod finally agreed to devote an hour
to searching the town and making inquiries for the lost monkey. In
order to make the search as thorough as possible, he, Billy Brackett,
Winn, and Solon went ashore and started in different directions,
leaving Sabella alone on the _Whatnot_.

CHAPTER XXIV.

WINN DISCOVERS HIS LONG-LOST RAFT.

The morning was gray and chill. The low-hanging clouds were charged
with moisture, and a thick fog hung above the river. Sabella was so
filled with anxiety concerning the fate of Don Blossom that she was
unable to settle down to any of the light domestic duties with which
she generally occupied her mornings. She wandered restlessly from door
to window, with the vague hope that her missing pet might be somewhere
in sight. If the weather had not been so unpleasant, she would have
started out on a private search for him in the immediate vicinity of
the landing. All at once, as she was gazing from the window of her own
little room on the upper deck at the dreary-looking houses of the
river-front, and as far as she could see up the one muddy street that
came within her range of vision, she heard shouting and laughter, and
saw a group of persons approaching the boat.

For a few minutes she could not make out who they were, or what they
were doing. Then she saw that the one taller than the others was a
man, and that he was surrounded by a group of boys. Several of them
ran backward in front of him, and all of them seemed greatly excited
over something that he bore in his arms. It was a red bundle that
squirmed and struggled as though it was alive. Sabella looked for a
moment longer, then she darted down the short flight of steps leading
to the living-room, and flung open the outer door.

"It's Don Blossom! It's my own dear, sweet Don Blossom!" she cried,
almost snatching the trembling little animal from the man's arms in her
eagerness.

The man stepped inside, and closed the door to shut out the boys, who,
after linge